International Trade Law News

Published by Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced Charles Paul Edward Jumet to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and making a false statement to federal agents.

The 87 month sentence is the longest prison term imposed against an individual for violating the FCPA. In addition to the prison term, the defendant was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release following release from prison.

According to the Justice Department, Jumet and others conspired to pay money secretly to Panamanian government officials in exchange for awarding contracts to Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC) to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterway. The Panamanian government ultimately awarded PECC a no-bid 20-year concession.

After the contract was awarded, Jumet admitted that he and others authorized corrupt payments to be made to the Panamanian government officials. Jumet and others paid more than $200,000 to the former administrator and the former deputy administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority and to a former high-ranking elected executive official of the Republic of Panama.

Jumet also made a false statement to federal agents about a "dividend" check payable to the bearer in the amount of $18,000 that was endorsed and deposited into an account belonging to the high-ranking elected Panamanian government official. Jumet falsely claimed that this "dividend" check was a donation for the high-ranking elected official’s re-election campaign, when, in fact, Jumet admitted it was given to the elected Panamanian government official as a corrupt payment for allowing PECC to receive the contract.

In a related case, John Warwick pleaded guilty on Feb. 13, 2010, for his role in the same conspiracy to violate the FCPA. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Hudson on May 14, 2010.

Labels: FCPA