Vetco Gray Controls Inc., Vetco Gray Controls Ltd., and Vetco Gray U.K. Ltd. pleaded guilty to violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and agreed to a collective fine of $26 million, paying $6 million, $8 million and $12 million respectively. They also agreed to hire an independent monitor to oversee the implementation of a robust compliance program, to undertake an investigation of the company’s operations as required under FCPA Opinion Release 04-02, and to agree that any potential buyer of the company would be bound to those monitoring and investigation conditions. Aibel Group Ltd. entered a deferred prosecution agreement relating to the same underlying conduct. Vetco Gray Controls Inc. and Vetco Gray U.K. Ltd. had previously pleaded guilty under the FCPA in 2004 in connection with their sale by ABB and the DOJ had required the implementation of compliance measures at that time. The previous guilty pleas and the failure of such compliance measures, evidenced by the continuation of corrupt activity, were taken into account by the DOJ in assessing the fines.
In November 2008, Aibel Group Ltd. pleaded guilty to a superseding information relating to the same conduct, which charged conspiracy to violate the FCPA and a violation of the FCPA. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the court dismissed the 2007 deferred prosecution agreement, which Aibel admitted having violated. Aibel agreed to pay a $4.2 million fine.
