Cyrus Ahsani, Bribery Scheme, Texas 2020

HOUSTON, Texas - In a shocking turn of events, former CEO Cyrus Ahsani, 51, and former COO Saman Ahsani, 46, both of the United Kingdom, have pleaded guilty to their roles in a scheme to corruptly facilitate millions of dollars in bribe payments to officials in multiple countries.

The scheme, which spanned from approximately 1999 to 2016, involved the Ahsanis and their Monaco-based intermediary company working with multiple companies and individuals to make millions of dollars in bribe payments to government officials in Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, and Syria.

As part of the scheme, the Ahsanis laundered the proceeds of their bribery scheme to promote and conceal the schemes and to cause the destruction of evidence in order to obstruct investigations in the United States and elsewhere.

Additionally, Steven Hunter, 50, former business development director of the company, pleaded guilty on August 2, 2018, to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The Ahsanis are set to be sentenced on April 20, 2020, before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore of the Southern District of Texas. Hunter's sentencing is scheduled for March 13, 2020, before U.S. District Judge David Hittner.

The investigation into the bribery scheme was conducted by the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Trial Attorneys Dennis R. Kihm, Gerald M. Moody Jr., Jonathan P. Robell, and Gwendolyn A. Stamper of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady of the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

The governments of Australia, Canada, France, Guernsey, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK provided significant assistance in the matter as did the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Eurojust.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department's FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/foreign-corrupt-practices-act.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/oil-executives-guilty-roles-bribery-scheme-involving-foreign-officials