Petroleos Mexicanos ("Pemex") was a national oil company wholly owned by the government of the Republic of Mexico, and was an instrumentality of the Mexican government.
Crawford Enterprises, Inc. ("CEI") was a corporation organized under the laws of Texas with its principal offices in Houston, Texas. CEI was in the business of selling compression equipment systems to Pemex for use in the exploration, production and transmission of Mexican oil and natural gas. Ruston Gas Turbines, Inc.
("Ruston") was a Texas corporation with principal offices in Houston, Texas, and was engaged in, among other things, the manufacture and sale of turbine compression equipment for use in the petroleum industry.
C.E. Miller Corporation ("Cemco") was a California corporation with principal offices in Irvine, California, and was engaged in, among other things, the engineering and fabrication of turbine compression systems for use in the petroleum industry.
International Harvester Company, and its division Solar Turbines International (collectively, "Solar"), was engaged in, among other things, the manufacture and sale of turbine compression equipment.
In order to obtain purchase orders for turbine compression systems and related equipment, CEI, along with Cemco, Solar and Ruston, engaged in a conspiracy to pay Pemex officials bribes equal to approximately 4.5% to 5% of each Pemex purchase order for compression equipment systems in which CEI participated. CEI arranged to have Grupo Industrial Delta, S.A., a Mexican company, hold itself out as the Mexican agent of CEI, while in truth acting primarily as the conduit for the bribe payments to the Pemex officials. Grupo Delta disguised the bribe payments as commissions due by providing CEI with false invoices for each payment received. In order to create a pool of money with which to pay the bribes, CEI, along with Cemco, Solar and Ruston, submitted to Pemex bids which were inflated to include a 4.5% to 5% markup for the Pemex officials.
Between June 1977 and March 1979, Cemco received approximately $79 million in process fabrication subcontracts from Pemex, CEI and the Solar Turbine Division of International Harvestor Company. CEI, along with Cemco, Solar and Ruston, transmitted approximately $9,960,432.40 in bribe money to Grupo Delta for payment to Pemex officials.
On September 17, 1982, the DOJ filed a criminal Information against Cemco and Charles E. Miller, the president, chairman of the board, and majority shareholder of Cemco, charging them with aiding and abetting the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. At the same time, Cemco and Charles E. Miller entered a guilty plea with the DOJ. Cemco was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine, and Charles E. Miller was placed on probation for three years and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.
In a related action, Marquis D. King, executive vice president of Cemco, entered into a guilty plea with the DOJ, agreeing to pay a $5,000 civil reimbursement as a condition of probation. King was placed on probation for a period of 14 months.
