Alstom S.A. ("Alstom"), headquarted and incorporated in France, was in the business of designing, constructing, and providing services related to power generation facilities, power grids, and rail transportation systems around the world.
From approximately 1999 to 2011, Alstom and its subsidiaries bid on various power projects with state-owned and state-controlled companies in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Bahamas, and Taiwan. As part of this bidding process, Alstom and its subsidiaries made improper payments of approximately $75 million to consultants knowing that all or some of the money would be given to officials who had the ability to influence the award of the contracts. As a result of these payments, Alstom and its subsidiaries were awarded contracts valued at approximately $4 billion in multiple countries.
On December 22, 2014, the DOJ filed an Information against Alstom, charging the company with violating the internal control and books and records provisions of the FCPA. At the same time, Alstom entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ and agreed to pay a $772,290,000 criminal fine and to self-report on the status of its improved anticorruption compliance program for a term of three years. On November 25, 2015, the court sentenced Alstom and ordered it to pay the abovementioned fine as well as a mandatory assessment of $800.
In related proceedings also filed on December 22, 2014, the DOJ filed informations against three Alstom subsidiaries: Alstom Network Schweiz AG (formerly known as Alstom Prom AG), Alstom Grid, Inc. (formerly known as Alstom T&D, Inc.), and Alstom Power Inc. Alstom Network Schweiz entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ, and on November 25, 2015, the court sentenced the company and ordered it to pay a mandatory assessment of $400. Alstom T&D US and Alstom Power US entered into a deferred prosecution agreements with the DOJ on December 22, 2014. No additional fine was imposed on any of the subsidiaries because of the $772,290,000 fine entered against Alstom, but all three subsidiaries agreed to implement improved anti-corruption compliance programs which would include 3 years of self-reporting alongside Alstom.
