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Charlotte-based Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) will pay nine figures to settle charges of bribery schemes that took place over the course of eight years, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
The chemicals manufacturing company has agreed to pay over $218 million to resolve investigations by DOJ and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigations were related to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act emanating from schemes to bribe government officials in Vietnam, Indonesia and India. DOJ said that between 2009 and 2017, Albemarle conspired to bribe government officials "to obtain and retain chemical catalyst business with state-owned oil refineries" in the three countries.
“Albemarle earned nearly $100 million by participating in schemes to pay bribes to government officials in multiple countries,” said Nicole Argentieri, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division. “As today’s announcement makes clear, the Justice Department will work tirelessly with our partners in the ongoing fight against international corruption. Today’s resolution also demonstrates the real benefits that companies can receive if they self-disclose misconduct, substantially cooperate, and extensively remediate.”
Albemarle said in a statement to the Charlotte Business Journal that the agreement is the resolution of "a previously disclosed and self-reported investigation" into the conduct in question.
"The DOJ recognized that Albemarle 'transformed its business model and risk management process to reduce corruption risk in its operation… [and] engaged in continuous testing, monitoring and improvement of all aspects of its compliance program, beginning almost immediately following the identification of misconduct,'" the company said in its statement. "The SEC likewise recognized that Albemarle has since enhanced its internal accounting controls surrounding the retention, payment and oversight of third parties, including the use of transaction monitoring and data analytics, ceased using sales agents across all business units and revamped its anti-corruption policies, procedures and systems. ... Today, Albemarle’s ethics and compliance program is industry recognized. We maintain a robust internal controls environment designed to prevent and detect violation of anti-corruption laws."
DOJ said the company has entered into a three-year nonprosecution agreement to resolve the investigations. Albemarle has agreed to pay a penalty of $98.2 million and $98.5 million of administrative forfeiture to resolve the DOJ investigation.
The company will also pay more than $103.6 million to resolve the SEC's charges that Albemarle "violated the anti-bribery, recordkeeping, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," the SEC said. DOJ said it will credit $81.9 million of the administrative forfeiture to the SEC payment.
“Corruption has no borders, but neither does justice,” said U.S. Attorney Dena J. King for the Western District of North Carolina. “Companies are expected to adhere to the same ethical and legal standards whether they are doing business on U.S. soil or overseas. Albemarle’s eventual voluntary disclosure of fraud and subsequent efforts to remedy its business practices abroad are a step in the right direction for the company. Above all, today’s announcement underscores our commitment to fight corruption affecting the United States no matter where it occurs.”