A&O Shearman FCPA Digest | United States v. Lawrence W. Parker, Jr. (S.D. Fla. 2017)<br /> United States v. Egbert Yvan Ferdinand Koolman (S.D. Fla. 2018)

Source Documents

Case Name
United States v. Lawrence W. Parker, Jr. (S.D. Fla. 2017)
United States v. Egbert Yvan Ferdinand Koolman (S.D. Fla. 2018)

Foreign Official
Egbert Yvan Ferdinand Koolman, product manager at Setar, an instrumentality of the Aruban government.

Nature of Business
Lawrence W. Parker, Jr., a U.S. citizen residing in Miami, Florida, was an owner or controller of several phone companies incorporated in Florida.

Egbert Yvan Ferdinand Koolman, a Dutch citizen residing in Miami, Florida, was an official of an instrumentality of the Aruban government, Servicio de Telecommunicacion di Aruba N.V. (“Setar”), where he worked as a product manager.

Influence to be Obtained
According to the DOJ, from 2005 to 2016, Koolman used his position at Setar to direct mobile phone and accessory contracts and other business to individuals and companies, including Parker’s phone companies, in exchange for improper payments. Allegedly, Koolman received bribes from the U.S. and other countries, which were disguised as commissions.

Enforcement
On December 20, 2017, the DOJ filed a one-count information against Parker for conspiracy to violate the FCPA. A few days later, Parker pleaded guilty to the charge. In April 2018, Parker was sentenced to 35 months in prison and ordered to pay $701,750 in restitution.

On April 10, 2018, the DOJ filed a single-count information against Koolman for conspiracy to commit money laundering in furtherance of an FCPA violation. On April 13, 2018, Koolman pleaded guilty to the charge. He was sentenced in June 2018 to 36 months in prison, followed by three-years supervised release and payment of approximately $1.3 million in restitution.