Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Enforcement Action Dataset

Initiation Date: 06/19/2007

Prosecuting Agency: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Type of Action: SEC Federal Court Proceeding

Docket or Case Number: 07-cv-01836

Court: D. Oregon

Name of Prosecuting Attorneys:

Marc J. Fagel, SEC San Francisco Regional Office
Cary S. Robnett, SEC San Francisco Regional Office
Susan F. Lamarca, SEC San Francisco Regional Office
Tracy L. Davis, SEC San Francisco Regional Office

US Assisting Agencies:

U.S. Department of Justice

Foreign Enforcement Action/Investigation: Unknown

Foreign Assistance: Unknown

Origin of the Proceeding: Voluntary disclosure

Whistleblower: Unknown

Case Status: Resolved

Summary

Robert W. Philip was the President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board for Schnitzer Steel Industries, an Oregon based publicly traded steel company listed on the Nasdaq exchange. From approximately 1999 to 2004, Schnitzer paid over $1.9 million in bribes to managers of both private and government owned steel companies in China and South Korea, which produced revenues for Schnitzer of over $500 million. As a result of the profits generated from these illicit payments, Philip received excess bonus compensation from Schnitzer totaling $169,863.79. It should be noted that while the bribes to the private companies did not constitute "bribery of foreign govt officials" under the FCPA, those bribes still violated the books & records and internal control provisions of the statute.

In 2004, an internal investigation by Schnitzer revealed the corrupt payments, and the company voluntarily disclosed the findings of the investigation to the Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC brought a civil action againt Philip alleging violations of the FCPA. The claims included Anti-bribery (Issuer), Books and Records (Aiding & Abetting), Internal Controls (Aiding & Abetting), Internal controls (Individual), and Books and Records (Individual).

Without admitting guilt, Philip consented to a judgment that required him to disgorge $169,863 in profits personally gained as the result of his violations of the FCPA. The judgment also required him to pay $16,536 in pre-judgment interest and a $75,000 civil penalty.

Protected Content

Please Log In or Sign Up for a free account to access restricted features of the Clearinghouse website, including the Advanced Search form and the full case pages.

When you sign up, you will have the option to save your search queries performed on the Advanced Search form.

| Enforcement Action Dataset

Enforcement Action Dataset

Case Information

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Robert W. Philip

Case Information

Protected Content