Business Crimes Hotline

NEW JERSEY

Former PetroTiger CEO Sentenced to Probation

Following his earlier guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), former PetroTiger CEO Joseph Sigelman was sentenced to a three-year term of probation on June 16 by Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the United States District Court in New Jersey. The government had sought a one-year prison term for Sigelman after he admitted that he and two other executives of British Virgin Islands-based PetroTiger ' Gregory Weisman and Knut Hammarskjold ' paid $333,500 to an employee of Ecopetrol to obtain a $45 million oil services contract with the Columbian state-owned oil company. In addition to the term of probation, Sigelman was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and $240,000 in restitution.

In March 2014, the government offered Sigelman a guilty plea that recommended up to 10 years in prison. Sigelman rejected this offer and the parties proceeded to trial, with Sigelman facing up to 20 years in prison. After Weisman's false testimony, however, the parties paused the trial and resumed plea negotiations, ultimately agreeing to a guilty plea that recommended a maximum of only one year and one day of incarceration. The government also agreed to drop the money laundering and kickback charges against Sigleman

Sigelman's plea came three weeks into his trial, after Weisman, a key government witness, admitted to providing false testimony on the stand. Specifically, Weisman initially testified that the government told him to remain employed as general counsel at Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Co. of Manila, Inc. (AGP), where Sigelman served as CEO, notwithstanding the resulting conflict of interest as Weisman cooperated with the government in building their case against Sigelman; however, Weisman later admitted that his decision to remain employed by Sigelman was his own. At the time, Weisman was also under investigation for FCPA violations and had agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation into the corrupt payments at PetroTiger. As part of this cooperation, while employed at AGP, Weisman secretly recorded a conversation with Sigelman discussing one of the corrupt payments. Judge Irenas had previously ruled that the recording could be admitted into evidence and did not violate attorney-client privilege because there was no legal advice sought or provided during the conversation.

Following its prior voluntary disclosure of the conduct, in June 2015, PetroTiger earned just the second public FCPA declination from the Department of Justice, following the initial one provided to Morgan Stanley in April 2012 ' Katherine E. Monks, Mayer Brown

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NEW JERSEY

Former PetroTiger CEO Sentenced to Probation

Following his earlier guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), former PetroTiger CEO Joseph Sigelman was sentenced to a three-year term of probation on June 16 by Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the United States District Court in New Jersey. The government had sought a one-year prison term for Sigelman after he admitted that he and two other executives of British Virgin Islands-based PetroTiger ' Gregory Weisman and Knut Hammarskjold ' paid $333,500 to an employee of Ecopetrol to obtain a $45 million oil services contract with the Columbian state-owned oil company. In addition to the term of probation, Sigelman was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and $240,000 in restitution.

In March 2014, the government offered Sigelman a guilty plea that recommended up to 10 years in prison. Sigelman rejected this offer and the parties proceeded to trial, with Sigelman facing up to 20 years in prison. After Weisman's false testimony, however, the parties paused the trial and resumed plea negotiations, ultimately agreeing to a guilty plea that recommended a maximum of only one year and one day of incarceration. The government also agreed to drop the money laundering and kickback charges against Sigleman

Sigelman's plea came three weeks into his trial, after Weisman, a key government witness, admitted to providing false testimony on the stand. Specifically, Weisman initially testified that the government told him to remain employed as general counsel at Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Co. of Manila, Inc. (AGP), where Sigelman served as CEO, notwithstanding the resulting conflict of interest as Weisman cooperated with the government in building their case against Sigelman; however, Weisman later admitted that his decision to remain employed by Sigelman was his own. At the time, Weisman was also under investigation for FCPA violations and had agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation into the corrupt payments at PetroTiger. As part of this cooperation, while employed at AGP, Weisman secretly recorded a conversation with Sigelman discussing one of the corrupt payments. Judge Irenas had previously ruled that the recording could be admitted into evidence and did not violate attorney-client privilege because there was no legal advice sought or provided during the conversation.

Following its prior voluntary disclosure of the conduct, in June 2015, PetroTiger earned just the second public FCPA declination from the Department of Justice, following the initial one provided to Morgan Stanley in April 2012 ' Katherine E. Monks, Mayer Brown

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