On September 4, 2008, Nexus and the individual defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in Philadelphia on one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and four substantive counts of violating the FCPA. On October 8, 2008, Nam Quoc Nguyen, the founder and president of Nexus, pleaded not guilty on behalf of all of Nexus. On November 20, 2008, the Court issued an Order for a Complex Criminal Case Designation, waiving the time limitations required under the Speedy Trial Act due to the complexity of the case and the quantity of evidence, particularly electronic evidence such as U.S.B. drives and CPU towers, to be reviewed.
On June 29, 2009, one of the defendants, Joseph Lukas, pleaded guilty in connection with his participation in the conspiracy to bribe Vietnamese government officials. Lukas admitted that from 1999 to 2005, he and other employees of Nexus agreed to pay, and knowingly paid, bribes to Vietnamese government officials in exchange for contracts with the agencies for which the officials worked. The bribes were falsely described as “commissions” in the company’s records.
On October 29, 2009, the government entered a superseding indictment against the remaining individual defendants and Nexus, adding charges of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and to launder money, nine substantive counts of violating the Travel Act, nine substantive counts of money laundering, and five additional counts of violating the FCPA.
On March 16, 2010, Nexus pleaded guilty to all charges filed against the company in the superseding indictment. In connection with the guilty plea, Nexus admitted that from 1999 to 2008, it agreed to pay, and knowingly paid, bribes in excess of $250,000 to Vietnamese government officials in exchange for contracts with the agencies and companies for which the bribe recipients worked. The bribes were falsely described as “commissions” in the company’s records. In pleading guilty, Nexus also acknowledged that, as a company, it operated primarily through criminal means and agreed to cease operations as a condition of the guilty plea.
On September 15, 2010, the Court issued an order approving the government’s motion for a downward departure at sentencing for Lukas for the assistance he provided to the government in their investigation of Nexus. The court cited Lukas’s cooperation as significant, finding that he gave the government valuable insight into the workings of Nexus, explained various documents and emails and provided the government with critical details regarding the bribery logistics and amounts, assisting with the evidentiary basis for the superseding indictment. On September 16, 2010, Lukas was sentenced to probation for a term of two years, ordered to pay a fine of $1000 and special assessment of $200.00, and perform 200 hours of community service.
On September 16, 2010, Nexus was sentenced to probation for a term of one year, ordered to cease all operations permanently, turn over all net assets to the Clerk of Court as a fine, and pay a special assessment of $11,200. On the same day, Nam Quoc Nguyen, founder of Nexus, was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment for each count to be served concurrently with the other counts and two years of supervised release. Co-defendant An Quoc Nguyen was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and three years of supervised release for a term of three years. In consideration of her cooperation, the court found that co-defendant Kim Anh Nguyen was entitled to a downward departure and sentenced her to two years’ probation, a $20,000 fine, a special assessment of $300, and 200 hours of community service.
