In re Archer Daniels Midland Company (2013)
United States v. Alfred C. Toepfer International (Ukraine) Limited (C.D. Ill. 2013)
Case Details
- Case Name
- In re Archer Daniels Midland Company (2013)
United States v. Alfred C. Toepfer International (Ukraine) Limited (C.D. Ill. 2013)
- Countries
- Ukraine, Venezuela
- Foreign Official
- Ukrainian Government Officials; Employee of Oil company Indirectly Owned by the Venezuelan Government.
- Date of Conduct
-
2002 to 2009
- Nature of Business
- Archer Daniels Midland Company (“ADM”), a Delaware corporation headquartered in Illinois, manufactures, processes, and sells agricultural commodities. Alfred C. Toepfer International (Ukraine) Ltd. (“ACTI Ukraine”) was an indirect 80 percent-owned subsidiary of ADM that traded and sold commodities in and outside of the Ukraine.
- Influence to be Obtained
- According to court filings and the admitted statement of facts attached to ADM’s deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ, ACTI Ukraine and other ADM affiliates paid bribes to government officials in Ukraine and Venezuela.
In Ukraine, ACTI Ukraine and its affiliate in Germany, Afred C. Toepfer International G.m.b.H. (“ACTI Hamburg”), engaged in multiple fraudulent schemes to pay Ukrainian officials to release VAT refunds that were being delayed or refused by the Ukrainian government. ACTI Ukraine and ACTI Hamburg entered into fraudulent agreements with a shipping company and an insurance company to raise the funds and funnel the payments and misrepresented the bribes as charitable donations or “depreciations” required by the Ukrainian government.
In Venezuela, ADM’s Latin American subsidiary (“ADM LA”) paid a commission to a broker in connection with the sale of soybean oil to a state-owned Venezuelan oil company, even though the broker had no involvement in the transaction. The “commission” was transferred to the bank account of an employee of the Venezuelan oil company. ADM LA also used the broker to make payments to principals of ADM’s other customers in Venezuela. In addition, ADM LA participated in a scheme in which refunds for customer overpayments were paid not to the customers directly but to accounts owned by employees or principals of the customer.
- Enforcement
- On December 20, 2013, ADM entered into a three-year non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ, and ACTI Ukraine pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. ADM agreed to a monetary penalty of $9.45 million pursuant to the non-prosecution agreement; that amount was credited against the $17,771,613 criminal fine imposed on ACTI Ukraine pursuant to its guilty plea.
- Amount of the Value
- $22,000 in Ukraine; Not Stated as to Venezuela.
- Amount of Business Related to Payment
- Approximately $100 million in Ukraine; Not Stated as to Venezuela.
- Intermediary
- Insurance Company; Third-Party Vendor; Third-Party Agent.
- Citizenship of Parent Entity
- United States
- Total Sanction
- $ 17,771,613
- Reporting Requirements
- No
- Total Combined Monetary Sanction
- $ 54,238,979
Defendants
Archer Daniels Midland Company
- Citation
- In re Archer Daniels Midland Company(2013);
- Other Statutory Provision
- None
- Disposition
- Non-Prosecution Agreement
- Defendant Jurisdictional Basis
- Issuer
- Defendant's Citizenship
- United States
Alfred C. Toepfer International (Ukraine) Limited
- Citation
- United States v. Alfred C. Toepfer International (Ukraine) Ltd., No. 2:13-cr-20062 (C.D. Ill. 2013).
- Other Statutory Provision
- None
- Disposition
- Plea Agreement
- Defendant Jurisdictional Basis
- Territorial Jurisdiction, Agent of Issuer
- Defendant's Citizenship
- Ukraine
