The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has declined to prosecute Corsa Coal Corp., a Pennsylvania, USA-based metallurgical coal producer, in connection to certain related benefits given to a representative of an overseas customer. The company has also agreed to pay a disgorgement of $1.2 million. The disgorgement amount was established based on the DoJ’s “inability to pay” guidance and is payable in two equal installments, one immediately and one in three months.
The company faced charges for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The government’s investigation found evidence that from late 2016 until early 2020, certain of Corsa’s employees and agents engaged in a scheme to bribe Egyptian government officials to obtain and retain lucrative contracts to supply coal to Al Nasr Coke and Chemicals, an Egyptian state-owned and controlled coke company. Corsa paid approximately $4.8 million to an Egypt-based third-party intermediary that Corsa’s employees knew would be used, at least in part, to pay bribes to Egyptian government officials, including the Chairman of Al Nasr. In exchange for the bribe payments, Corsa secured approximately $143 million in coal contracts from Al Nasr and earned approximately $32.7 million in profits.
The government’s decision to decline prosecution included, but was not limited to: (1) Corsa’s timely and voluntary self-disclosure of the misconduct; (2) Corsa’s full and proactive cooperation in this matter (including its provision of all known relevant facts about the misconduct, including information about the individuals involved in the conduct) and its agreement to continue to cooperate with any ongoing government investigations and any prosecutions that have resulted or might result in the future; (3) the nature and seriousness of the offense; (4) Corsa’s timely and appropriate remediation, including terminating a sales representative who engaged in the bribe scheme and substantially improving its compliance program and internal controls; and (5) the fact that Corsa agrees to and will disgorge the amount of its ill-gotten gains that it is able to pay.
