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Business Crimes Hotline

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
November 27, 2007

District of Columbia

Ex-Treasurer of Lockheed's PAC Gets 16 Months for Self-Enrichment

On Oct. 23, 2007 Kenneth D. Phelps III, of Woodbridge, VA, a former deputy manager and treasurer for Lockheed Martin Corporation's political action committee, was sentenced in connection with his July guilty plea to 12 counts each of wire fraud and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman sentenced Phelps to 16 months in prison and three years of post-incarceration supervised release, and ordered him to pay more than $163,000 in restitution, in relation to a scheme of embezzlement and self-enrichment that he undertook and attempted to conceal from 2002-2003. Department of Justice. Oct. 23, 2007 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/October/07_crm_841.html).

Ohio

American Electronic Power Environmental Settlement Hits Record Territory

A settlement was filed on Oct. 9, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, that the Department of Justice and Enviro nmental Protected Agency announced as the largest single environmental settlement in history. American Electronic Power agreed to pay a $15 million penalty, invest $60 million in pollution mitigation projects, and incur $4.6 billion in costs related to a reduction of 813,000 tons of air pollutants annually, to resolve allegations of Clean Air Act violations. The matter involved a coalition of states and citizens groups and effects facilities in five states. Department of Justice, Fact Sheet: United States Et Al. vs. American Electric Power, Oct. 9, 2007 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/October/07_enrd_798.html;UnitedStates.vs. American Electric Power, Consent Decree,2007 (available
at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees/AEP/AEP_CDFINALsigsout.pdf).

Texas

Nigeria Continues to Be an FCPA Enforcement Focus

Jason Edward Steph, a former executive at Willbros International Inc. (WII), a Willbros Group Inc. subsidiary, pled guilty on Nov. 4, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, to conspiring to bribe Nigerian government officials, with upwards of $6 million, as part of an effort to secure a gas pipeline construction contract in the country. As part of Steph's plea, he has agreed to cooperate with authorities. Steph has already indicated that he was not alone in the effort, and that the payment scheme involved two WII consultants and individuals described as 'certain Nigeria-based employees of a major German engineering and construction company.' Department of Justice, Nov. 5, 2007 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/November/07_crm_885.html).

District of Columbia

Ex-Treasurer of Lockheed's PAC Gets 16 Months for Self-Enrichment

On Oct. 23, 2007 Kenneth D. Phelps III, of Woodbridge, VA, a former deputy manager and treasurer for Lockheed Martin Corporation's political action committee, was sentenced in connection with his July guilty plea to 12 counts each of wire fraud and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman sentenced Phelps to 16 months in prison and three years of post-incarceration supervised release, and ordered him to pay more than $163,000 in restitution, in relation to a scheme of embezzlement and self-enrichment that he undertook and attempted to conceal from 2002-2003. Department of Justice. Oct. 23, 2007 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/October/07_crm_841.html).

Ohio

American Electronic Power Environmental Settlement Hits Record Territory

A settlement was filed on Oct. 9, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, that the Department of Justice and Enviro nmental Protected Agency announced as the largest single environmental settlement in history. American Electronic Power agreed to pay a $15 million penalty, invest $60 million in pollution mitigation projects, and incur $4.6 billion in costs related to a reduction of 813,000 tons of air pollutants annually, to resolve allegations of Clean Air Act violations. The matter involved a coalition of states and citizens groups and effects facilities in five states. Department of Justice, Fact Sheet: United States Et Al. vs. American Electric Power, Oct. 9, 2007 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/October/07_enrd_798.html;UnitedStates.vs. American Electric Power, Consent Decree,2007 (available
at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees/AEP/AEP_CDFINALsigsout.pdf).

Texas

Nigeria Continues to Be an FCPA Enforcement Focus

Jason Edward Steph, a former executive at Willbros International Inc. (WII), a Willbros Group Inc. subsidiary, pled guilty on Nov. 4, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, to conspiring to bribe Nigerian government officials, with upwards of $6 million, as part of an effort to secure a gas pipeline construction contract in the country. As part of Steph's plea, he has agreed to cooperate with authorities. Steph has already indicated that he was not alone in the effort, and that the payment scheme involved two WII consultants and individuals described as 'certain Nigeria-based employees of a major German engineering and construction company.' Department of Justice, Nov. 5, 2007 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/November/07_crm_885.html).

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