A&O Shearman FCPA Digest | In re Linde North America Inc., Linde Gas North America LLC (2017)

Source Documents

Nature of Business
Linde North America Inc. and Linde Gas North America LLC (collectively “Linde North America”) are subsidiaries of the German manufacturer and supplier of industrial gases, Linde Group.

Influence to be Obtained
According to the DOJ, from 2006 to 2009, Linde North America made corrupt payments to high-level officials at the National High Technology Center of the Republic of Georgia. The payments were allegedly made through Spectra Gases, Inc, an entity which Linde North America acquired in October 2006. The DOJ claims that on or about November 13, 2006, Spectra purchased assets and equipment from the National High Technology Center which were used to produce boron gas. As part of the transaction, executives at Spectra agreed to share the profits earned from the sale of boron gas with certain high-level officials at the National High Technology Center in return for those officials assistance in ensuring that Spectra would be selected as the purchaser of the equipment and assets.

Enforcement
On June 16, 2017, the DOJ publicly announced that it would decline to bring charges against Linde North America for potential violations of the FCPA as part of the FCPA Pilot Program. According to the DOJ, Linde voluntarily disclosed the scheme, cooperated with investigators, and took the remedial steps necessary to correct the compliance failures. In exchange for the declination, Linde North America agreed to disgorge $7,820,000 and forfeit an additional, $3,415,000, for a total sanction of $11,235,000.