SBM Offshore N.V. (SBM) was a Dutch publicly traded corporation that had major business operations in the design, construction, and provision of offshore oil and gas drilling equipment.
SBM Offshore USA Inc. (SBM USA) was a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of SBM based in Texas.
According to the Information, from about 1996 through 2012, SBM USA and SBM paid bribes through a Brazilian sales and marketing intermediary to at least three separate officials at Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company. These bribes were paid to secure and retain contracts with Petrobras. In all, SBM USA made at least $13,200,000 in profits from these contracts with Petrobras.
On November 21, 2017, the DOJ filed a single count information in the Southern District of Texas against SBM USA alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. On November 29, 2017, the company entered into a plea agreement. Under the terms of the plea agreement, SBM USA would be fined $500,000 and be forced to forfeit $13.2 million. Both the criminal fine and the forfeiture were rolled into the $238 million penalty that SBM ageed to pay in its separate Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ. In determining the appropriate fine, the DOJ took into account the $240 million in disgorgement and fines that SBM paid when it settled related claims with the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2014 as well as expected future fines from Brazilian authorities. In all, SBM’s combined worldwide penalties exceed $475 million. The DOJ further noted that while SBM waited a year before disclosing the misconduct to the agency, the company fully cooperated and remediated and was therefore entitled to a 25% reduction off the bottom of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range. The fine was further reduced based on SBM's inability to pay the full guidelines amount.
In separate proceedings, the DOJ filed similar conspiracy charges against Anthony Mace, the former CEO of SBM, and Robert Zubiate, a sales and marketing executive at SBM USA. Both men pled guilty, and on September 28, 2018, both were sentenced to a term of prison plus a criminal fine.
