Gioacchino De Chirico, an Italian citizen and legal resident of Georgia, was, during the relevant period, President and Chief Operating Officer of Immucor Inc., which was a medical equipment company specializing in the manufacture and marketing of products used in the pre-transfusion diagnostics of human blood.
In or about February 2004, Immucor Italia, acting through a local sales agent, offered to the director of Milan, Italy's, Nirguarda Hospital’s blood bank (“the hospital director”), and the hospital director accepted, a payment of €13,500 (or approximately $16,119 USD) for the purpose of influencing his commercial decisions for the benefit of Immucor, including, but not limited to the hospital director’s upcoming decision on whether to renew his hospital’s contract for Galileo-related blood testing supplies which was due to expire in January 2005. In accordance with his earlier agreement with the hospital director's request to assist him in avoiding Italian taxes, De Chirico authorized that the payment be made through Immucor's German subsidiary, Immucor Medizinische Diagnostik GmbH. In so doing, he approved an invoice that falsely described the payment as a consulting fee for services in connection with Galileo opportunities in Switzerland—work that De Chirico knew the hospital director had never performed.
On September 28, 2007, the SEC filed a civil complaint in the Northern District of Georgia against De Chirico alleging violations of the books & records and internal controls provisions of the FCPA as well as aiding and abetting violations of the books & records and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. Around the same date, De Chirico consented to the entry of final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, and on Oct 2, 2007, the court entered final judgment and ordered De Chirico to pay a fine of $30,000.
In a separate related matter, on September 27, 2007, the SEC filed an administrative cease and desist proceeding against Immucor and De Chirico. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the order, Immucor and De Chirico consented to the entry of the cease and desist order.
