Stuart Carson was the Chief Executive Officer of Control Components, Inc. ("CCI") from around 1989 through around 2005.
Hong "Rose" Carson was CCI's Manager of Sales for China and Taiwan from 1995 through 2000 and then served as the Director of Sales for China and Taiwan from 2000 through 2007. She was also married to defendant Stuart Carson.
Paul Cosgrove was Executive Vice President of CCI from around 2002 through around 2007 and served as the Head of CCI's Worldwide Sales Department from in or around 1992 through in or around 2007. Cosgrove was the second highest ranking executive at CCI.
Han Yong Kim was the President of CCI's Korean office from 1997 through 2005. From 2005 through 2007, Kim served as a consultant to CCI's Korean office.
David Edmonds was the Vice-President of Worldwide Customer Service at CCI from 2000 through 2007.
Flavio Ricotti was CCI's Vice-President and Head of Sales for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East from 2001 through 2007.
According to the allegations in the charging documents, beginning around 1998 and continuing through around August 2007, S. Carson, H. Carson, Cosgrove, Edmonds, Ricotti, and Kim, as well as CCI and its various employees made corrupt payments to officers and employees of numerous state-owned and privately-owned customers around the world for the purpose of assisting in obtaining or retaining business for CCI. Between around 2003 and around 2007, these corrupt payments to officers and employees of state-owned customers totaled $4.9 million, and the corrupt payments to officers and employees of privately-owned customers totaled approximately $1.95 million. Thus, approximately $6.85 million in total improper payments were made in approximately 236 payments in over thirty countries and resulted in net profits to CCI of approximately $46.52 million from the sales related to those corrupt payments.
On April 8, 2009, the DOJ filed a 16 count Indictment in the Central District of California against S. Carson, H. Carson, Cosgrove, Edmonds, Ricotti, and Kim.
On April 27, 2011, in connection with a plea agreement, the DOJ filed a one count Superseding Information against Ricotti alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the Travel Act. On April 28, 2011, Ricotti entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ, and on March 22, 2013, the court entered final judgment against him. The court sentenced Ricotti to time served (he had spent almost 11 months in jail pre-trial) and ordered him to pay a mandatory assessment of $100.
On April 16, 2012, in connection with plea agreements, the DOJ filed separate one count Superseding Informations against S. Carson and H. Carson alleging violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. On the same date, both S. Carson and H. Carson entered into separate plea agreements with the DOJ--though the agreements were separate, both defendants needed to agree for either to be effective--and on November 5, 2012, the court entered final judgment against both defendants. The court sentenced S. Carson to 4 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, the first 8 months of which would be served under home detention. The court further ordered S. Carson to pay a fine of $20,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $100. The court sentenced H. Carson to 3 years of probation, the first 6 months of which would be served under home detention. The court further ordered H. Carson to pay a fine of $20,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $100.
On May 25, 2012, in connection with a plea agreement, the DOJ filed a one count Superseding Information against Cosgrove alleging violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. On the same date, Cosgrove entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. On September 13, 2012, the court entered final judgment against Cosgrove. The court sentenced Cosgrove to 3 years probation, the first 13 months of which would be served under home detention. The court further ordered Cosgrove to pay a fine of $20,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $100.
On June 14, 2012, the DOJ filed a Superseding Information (document unavailable) against Edmonds, and on the same date, Edmonds entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. On December 17, 2012, the court entered final judgment against Edmonds. The court sentenced Edmonds to 4 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, the first 4 months of which would be served under home detention. The court further ordered Edmonds to pay a fine of $20,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $100.
On May 17, 2013, Kim made the last of several motions for leave to make a special appearance in order to challenge the sufficiency of the indictment against him. On June 11, 2013, the district court denied that motion. Kim appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a writ of mandamus against the district court, and on April 24, 2014, the Court of Appeals denied the petition for the writ. On June 17, 2014, the Court of Appeals denied an En Banc rehearing of the petition. On October 20, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Kim's Writ of Certiori appealing the Court of Appeals decision. During all this time Kim was living in his native South Korea, and it appears that Kim remains a fugitive.
