The Southern District of New York unsealed a criminal complaint charging two individuals with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and various other violations involving corrupt payments in order to secure business advantages for a Chinese energy company doing business in Chad and Uganda.

As alleged in the complaint, the two men, Chi Ping Patrick Ho of Hong Kong and Cheikh Gadio of Senegal, allegedly met in New York at the United Nations to discuss several illegal schemes.

According to the complaint, a Chinese energy company sought a lucrative oil opportunity in Chad. Mr. Ho allegedly enlisted Mr. Gadio's assistance to gain access to the Chadian president and, acting on Mr. Gadio's advice, caused the Chinese company to offer the Chadian president a $2 million bribe to secure Chadian oil rights. To compensate Mr. Gadio for his assistance, Mr. Ho allegedly sent $400,000 from a bank account in New York to an overseas account designated by Mr. Gadio.

The complaint also alleges that Mr. Ho met the foreign minister of Uganda at the United Nations in New York and later caused the Chinese company to wire $500,000 from a bank account in New York to a Ugandan account designated by the foreign minister. The payment was allegedly intended to benefit the foreign minister's brother-in-law, the Ugandan president, in exchange for lucrative joint ventures with the two men's family businesses.

Commentary

In this case, prosecutors from the Southern District have teamed up with the Department of Justice Fraud Section to prosecute FCPA violations. This relatively rare occurrence could be a sign of things to come in terms of cooperation between the SDNY and the Fraud Section.

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