Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Enforcement Action Dataset

Initiation Date: 11/08/2024

Prosecuting Agency: U.S. Department of Justice

Type of Action: DOJ Criminal Proceeding

Docket or Case Number: 24-cr-00633

Court: S.D. New York

Name of Prosecuting Attorneys:

Glenn S. Leon, Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Damian Williams, United States Attorney
Nicola J. Mrazek, Senior Litigation Counsel, FCPA Unit, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Abdus Samad Pardesi, Trial Attorney, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Jilan Kamal, Assistant United States Attorney

US Assisting Agencies:

Internal Revenue Service

Foreign Enforcement Action/Investigation: Unknown

Foreign Assistance:

Panamanian Law Enforcement Agency (PA)
Swiss Law Enforcement Agency (CH)
Luxembourgian Law Enforcement Agency (LU)

Origin of the Proceeding: Unknown

Whistleblower: Unknown

Case Status: Resolved

Summary

Telefonica S.A. was a global telecommunications operator headquartered in Madrid, Spain. The company's American Depositary Receipts traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Telefonica Venezolana C.A. was a wholly owned subsidiary of Telefonica that provided mobile phone services in Venezuela.

According to the documents in this case, Telefonica Venezolana participated in a government-sponsored currency auction in Venezuela in 2014 that allowed it to exchange its Venezuelan bolivars for U.S. dollars. To ensure its success in the auction, Telefonica Venezolana recruited two suppliers -- unnamed Venezuelan subsidiaries of two multinational telecommunications companies -- to make approximately $28.9 million in payments to Venezuelan intermediaries, knowing that some of those funds would be corruptly paid to Venezuelan government officials. To conceal the bribe payments, Telefonica Venezolana covered the cost of the bribes by purchasing equipment from the two suppliers at inflated prices. These payments allowed Telefonica Venezolana to exchange and receive over $110 million through the currency auction, which it used to purchase equipment from the two suppliers it recruited to join the scheme.

On November 8, 2024, the DOJ filed a single count information in the Southern District of New York against Telefonica Venezolana alleging a conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. On the same date, the DOJ entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with both Telefonica Venezolana and Telefonica. Under the terms of the settlement, Telefonica Venezolana agreed to pay a criminal fine of $85,260,000, which represented a 20 percent discount off the fifth percentile of the Sentencing Guidelines fine range, and Telefonica agreed to self-report on the status of its anticorruption compliance to the DOJ for a term of three years. The DOJ noted Telefonica's cooperation and remediation.

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| Enforcement Action Dataset

Enforcement Action Dataset

Case Information

United States of America v. Telefonica Venezolana, C.A.

Case Information

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