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ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS
Canadian Mining Company Settles with SEC over FCPA Charges
On March 26, Kinross Gold Corporation settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its alleged failure to implement and maintain adequate anticorruption controls at two of its subsidiaries in Mauritania and Ghana. As part of the settlement, Kinross agreed to pay a civil penalty of $950,000. In a separate SEC filing, Kinross noted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had declined to prosecute after conducting an investigation ofthese same issues.
The SEC's press release is available here, and the settlement order here. For more information, see coverage from the FCPA Blog here and from 4Traders here.
South Africa's Zuma Summoned to Appear in Court over DecadeOld Corruption Charges
On March 26, South African law enforcement authorities summoned the former South African President Jacob Zuma to appear in court to face charges of corruption related to a military arms deal in which he was involved in the 1990s. Allegations of wrongdoing were first leveled against Zuma in 2005, and he was indicted in 2007, though the case was withdrawn in 2009, just a few weeks before he assumed the presidency. Prosecutors reinstated the charges earlier this month, following Zuma's resignation at the behest of the leadership of his political party, the ANC, in February 2018. Zuma is scheduled to appear in court on April 6.
For more information, see coverage from The New York Times here and from the Financial Times here.
Peru's President Resigns over Odebrecht Bribery Scandal
On March 21, Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski tendered his resignation rather than face an impeachment vote over allegations of his involvement in a widespread $800 million corruption scheme related to Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which has reached the highest levels of governments across Latin America.
Red Notice has been following the Odebrecht fallout as it has unfolded, most recently in the December 2017 publication.
President Kuczynski previously denied any connection to the bribery schemes, including denying that he had received any campaign contributions from Odebrecht. New allegations surfaced that President Kuczynski received payments from Odebrecht through his consulting firm, where he allegedly used his government contacts while serving as finance minister to lobby on Odebrecht's behalf. President Kuczynski has been barred from leaving Peru for the next 18 months, and First Vice President Martín Vizcarra has replaced him. President Kuczynski is not the first Peruvian leader to be embroiled in the Odebrecht scandal—former President Alejandro Toledo fled the country in February 2017 after a Peruvian judge ordered his arrest.
For more information, see coverage from The Washington Post here, from The Wall Street Journal here, from Bloomberg here and from The Economist here.
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