United States v. Alcoa World Alumina LLC
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
No. 14-CR-00007 (2014)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
An Australian subsidiary of Alcoa World Alumina LLC (company) (defendant) shipped alumina directly to Alba, a Bahrain government-owned firm. However, instead of a direct contractual relationship between the subsidiary and Alba, the executive in charge of the company’s dealings with Alba retained a third-party consultant to serve as the company’s exclusive distributor in Bahrain. The executive told company lawyers that the government officials who controlled Alba insisted on the distributorship arrangement and that it was best for the company not to concern itself with details of the arrangement. Over the next few years, company sales to Alba significantly increased. The executive consciously disregarded the fact that the distributorship arrangement enabled the consultant to mark up the company’s alumina prices and then skim off the excess to provide bribes for the Alba officials. The executive further facilitated the consultant’s bribery scheme by arranging for the company to extend substantial lines of credit to the consultant, despite the consultant’s refusal to provide the financial statements normally required to obtain such third-party credit. The United States government charged the company with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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