Document b5z5mR0LVZ8X3xgRje0yzpr3g

StAR - Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative - Corruption Cases - Monsanto Company Jump to navigation Case Name: Monsanto Company Case ID: 273 Case Cluster : Monsanto Company Jurisdiction of Settlement: United States Jurisdiction of Settlement / Enforcement Agency: Securities and Exchange Commission Jurisdiction of Foreign Public Official(s) : Indonesia Year of Settlement: 2005 Month/Day of Settlement (or Notes): 01/06 Other Jurisdictions of Settlement: Unknown Settlement with Individual or Legal Person?: Legal Person Type of Settlement: Civil Legal Form of Settlement: Consent to Final Judgment, Consent to Cease-and-Desist Order Monetary Sanctions (Types): Civil Penalty Total Monetary Sanctions (US$): $500,000.00 Civil Disgorgement of Profits (US$) : $500,000 Civil Prejudgment Interest (US$) : $0 Civil Fine / Penalty (US$): $0 Monetary Sanctions Returned / Ordered Returned (US$): $0 UNCAC Articles(s) Implicated: Art.16 Art.23 Art.26 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention Articles Implicated: Art. 1, Art. 2, Art. 7, Art. 8 Offenses - Alleged: Bribery of Foreign Officials, Internal Controls Violations, Falsification of Books and Records, False Accounting Offenses - Settled: No admission or denial of alleged offenses Public Procurement Contract / SOE Involved?: No (License) Summary: According to the June 2011 United States Report to the OECD, "Monsanto, a producer of various agricultural products, hired an Indonesian consulting company to assist it in obtaining various Indonesian governmental approvals and licenses necessary to sell its genetically modified products in Indonesia. At the time, the Indonesian government required an environmental impact study before authorizing the cultivation of genetically modified crops. After a change in governments in Indonesia, Monsanto sought, unsuccessfully, to have the new government, in which the senior environment official had a post, amend or repeal the requirement for the environmental impact statement. Having failed to obtain the senior environment official's agreement to amend or repeal this requirement, in 2002, Charles Martin, the Government Affairs Director for Asia for Monsanto, authorized and directed an Indonesian consulting firm to make an illegal payment totaling $50,000 to the senior environment official to "incentivize" him to agree to do so. Martin also directed representatives of the Indonesian consulting company to submit false invoices to Monsanto for "consultant fees" to obtain reimbursement for the bribe, and agreed to pay the consulting company for taxes that company would owe by reporting income from the "consultant fees." In February 2002, an employee of the Indonesian consulting company delivered $50,000 in cash to the senior environment official, explaining that Monsanto wanted to do something for him in exchange for repealing the environmental impact study requirement. The senior environment official promised that he would do so at an appropriate time. In March 2002, Monsanto, through its Indonesian subsidiary, paid the false invoices thus reimbursing the consulting company for the $50,000 bribe, as well as the tax it owed on that income. A false entry for these "consulting services" was included in Monsanto's books and records. The senior environment official never authorized the repeal of the environmental impact study requirement." (Source: US Report to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Steps taken to implement and enforce the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions," Information as of May 31,2011, Monsanto Company Case Summary at 108-109.) Sources : US Report to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Steps taken to implement and enforce the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions," Information as of May 31,2011, Monsanto Company Case Summary at 108-109, accessed at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/8742103833.pdf. US Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 19023 / January 6, 2005, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Monsanto Company, Case No. 1:05CV00014 (U.S.D.C., D.D.C) (filed January 6, 2005), "SEC Sues Monsanto Company for Paying a Bribe, Monsanto Settles Action and Agrees to Pay a $500,000 Penalty," accessed at http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19023.htm; Complaint accessed at http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp19023.pdf World Bank Group | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved.