Houston-based oil field services provider Baker Hughes Inc. on Thursday announced that it has agreed to pay $44.1 million to settle the Department of Justice and the SEC’s long-standing allegations that a unit of the company had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Under the terms of deal, a subsidiary of the company pleaded guilty to violations of the FCPA regarding payments made to a commercial agent in Kazakhstan between 2001 and 2003, the company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice that provides that federal government will not prosecute the company if it meets the conditions of the agreement for two years (including a government-approved monitor to oversee its compliance efforts), and the company agreed to a consent judgment with the SEC, which charged violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA related to the Kazakhstan deal.
The company announced the govenment probes publicly almost five years ago and the probe was well-known within the Houston legal community even before that. Sometimes delay really is the best strategy.