On April 28, 2009, Haim Geri, the president of a Florida company that sells law enforcement and military products, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to one count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”). Geri is one of 22 defendants arrested in the Shot-Show case, which marks the U.S. government’s largest sting operation aimed at uncovering FCPA violations and the largest action ever undertaken against individuals for FCPA violations.
The U.S. government conducted the investigation using undercover FBI agents posing as government officials in Gabon’s ministry of defense. Geri and the other defendants allegedly agreed to pay kickbacks to individuals that they believed were government officials in Gabon’s ministry of defense in return for a $15 million contract. Specifically, Geri agreed to pay a 20 percent “commission” to a sales agent who he believed was a government official. In reality, the sales agent was an undercover FBI agent. Geri was charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to violate the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, aiding and abetting, and a forfeiture count. Geri faces 18 to 24 months in prison under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.
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