PAID TO DO BUSINESS AT FOREIGN REFINERIES
A publicly-traded “specialty chemicals manufacturing company,” known as Albemarle Corporation, has agreed to pay more than $218 million to resolve claims by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company had illegally paid bribes to foreign government officials -- all in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Between 2009 and 2017, the company conceded that it used third parties and employees to bribe government officials so that it could obtain and keep its chemical catalyst business at state-owned oil refineries in India, Indonesia and Vietnam. (The scheme is said to have generated some $98.5 million in profit for the company.)
In a written statement, Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, noted that, “Albemarle earned nearly $100 million by participating in schemes to pay bribes to government officials in multiple countries …. As today’s announcement makes clear, the Justice Department will work tirelessly with our partners in the ongoing fight against international corruption. Today’s resolution also demonstrates the real benefits that companies can receive if they self-disclose misconduct, substantially cooperate, and extensively remediate.”
Albemarle wasn't able to find another way to refine that?
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