The Colombian conglomerate Endorsement Group and its banking affiliate will pay more than $80 million to settle charges of violating anti-corruption laws in USAauthorities in Washington said Thursday.
The financial group and its unit Corporación Financiera Colombiana, also known as Corficolombiana, were charged with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Following the settlement announcement, Grupo Aval said the Justice Department did not initiate any enforcement action and the SEC did not file a lawsuit against the company for bribery. The company added that it considered “closed” this “painful chapter”
Corficolombiana will pay a criminal penalty of US$40.6 million, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. In addition, the SEC said the company will pay more than $40 million in restitution interest and as an advance for the resolution of a parallel investigation.
Between 2012 and 2015, Corficolombiana conspired to offer and pay more than $23 million in bribes to high-ranking Colombian government officials in order to win a contract to build and operate a toll road, prosecutors said.
Corficolombiana had conspired with Brazilian construction company Odebrecht to offer bribes to Colombian government officials, according to prosecutors.
Odebrecht and its parent company, Braskem, Brazil’s largest petrochemical company, agreed in 2016 to pay $3.5 billion to settle bribery-related charges brought by regulators in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland.
Ultimately, Corficolombiana made about $28.63 million in profits from the illicitly obtained business, US authorities said.
Source: Reuters.
Source: Gestion
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