Akamai Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Massachusetts, provided internet-based online content and business applications cloud services and had operations in North America, Europe, and China. Akamai's stock was registered with the SEC and listed on the NASDAQ. Akamai (Beijing) Technologies, Co. Ltd. ("Akamai-China") was Akamai's wholly-owned subsidiary located in Beijing, China. Akamai-China provided technical and sales support to its local Chinese partners, which resold Akamai's products in China.
From about 2013 through 2015, a Regional Sales Manager with Akamai-China teamed with a third-party Chinese partner to bribe employees of certain Akamai customers. Among the employees bribed, some worked for two Chinese state owned entities. In total, the Regional Sales Manager paid roughly $155,500 in bribes to the employees of Akamai's customers. Of that total, payments of cash of about $38,500 were made to Chinese government officials. Additionally, gifts and entertainment worth approximately $32,000 were made to Chinese government officials, which Akamai-China improperly recorded as legitimate business expenses.
On June 7, 2016, the SEC entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement with Akamai. Under the terms of the agreement, the SEC agreed not to prosecute Akamai for violations of the books & records or internal controls provisions of the FCPA, and Akamai agreed to pay disgorgement of $652,452 plus prejudgment interest of $19,433. In entering the agreement, the SEC noted Akamai's comprehensive cooperation, self-reporting, and remedial measures.
The DOJ formally declined to prosecute Akamai, noting that the declination was consistent with the agency’s new Pilot Program, which was announced in April 2016 and which is intended to encourage companies to self-report potential FCPA violations and to cooperate with the government.
