United States v. Transocean Inc. (S.D. Tex. 2010)

• Case Name
• United States v. Transocean Inc. (S.D. Tex. 2010)

• Date Filed
• 11/04/2010

• Enforcement Agency
• DOJ

• Countries
• Nigeria

• Foreign Official
• Nigerian Customs Service officials.

• Date of Conduct
• 2002 to 2007

• Nature of Business
• Transocean Inc. (“Transocean”) was a Cayman Islands corporation that is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Transocean Ltd., a Swiss corporation.  Transocean and its affiliates provide offshore drilling services and equipment to oil companies worldwide.

• Influence to be Obtained
• From 2002 to 2007, Transocean paid bribes to Nigerian customs officials through its freight forwarding agents in Nigeria to circumvent Nigerian regulations regarding the import of goods and materials and the import of Transocean’s deep-water oil rigs in Nigerian waters.  Although Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd. (“Panalpina”) was not identified by name in the government’s Criminal Information as one of the freight forwarders, a DOJ press release alleges that Panalpina had paid bribes on behalf of Transocean.  Transocean admitted that it had approved of Panalpina’s payments to the Nigerian government.

• Enforcement
• On November 4, 2010, the DOJ and Transocean entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, under which Transocean agreed to pay a penalty of $13.44 million, review and revise its existing internal controls, policies, and procedures as necessary, and provide a yearly report to the DOJ on the remediation and implementation of its compliance program and internal controls, policies, and procedures for a period of three years.
   
  Transocean settled related charges with the SEC on November 4, 2010.  
   
  Also on November 4, 2010, Panalpina settled related charges with the SEC and DOJ.  Two of Panalpina’s other customers in the oil exploration and production industry also pleaded guilty to and settled related charges with the DOJ and SEC on the same day.
   

• Amount of the Value
• Approximately $90 million.

• Amount of Business Related to Payment
• Approximately $2.17 million.

• Intermediary
•  Freight Forwarder; Agent.

• Compliance Monitor
• No

• Reporting Requirements
• No

• Case is Pending?
• No

• Related Enforcement Actions
• SEC v. Transocean Inc. (D.D.C. 2010)
  

Transocean Inc.

• Citation
• United States v. Transocean Inc., No. 4:10-cr-768 (S.D. Tex. 2010).

• Date Filed
• 11/04/2010

• Filed Under Seal
• No

• FCPA Statutory Provision
• • Anti-Bribery
  • Books-and-Records
  • Conspiracy: Anti-Bribery

• Other Statutory Provision
• None

• Disposition
• Deferred Prosecution Agreement

• Defendant Jurisdictional Basis
• Issuer

• Defendant's Citizenship
• United States