DOJ dusts off little-used Travel Act to strengthen FCPA prosecutions
On May 3, police in Miami scooped up three people who were decidedly not common criminals.
June 30, 2013 at 08:00 PM
15 minute read
On May 3, police in Miami scooped up three people who were decidedly not common criminals—Thomas Clarke and Jose Alejandro Hurtado, brokers for Wall Street firm Direct Access Partners, and Maria de los Angeles Gonzales, a vice president of Venezuela's state-controlled bank Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (Bandes).
Clarke and Hurtado are accused of paying about $5 million in kickbacks to Gonzales to influence her to steer Bandes' securities investment business to Direct Access Partners. A federal indictment filed May 7 charges the trio of executives with money laundering, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Travel Act.
First enacted in 1961, the Travel Act has been a little-used, but powerful, tool in federal prosecutors' arsenal. The statute has a broader reach than the FCPA, allowing federal prosecutors to not only charge foreign nationals who receive bribes from U.S.-based companies, but also to reach a variety of criminal activity that may not on its face violate federal law.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3The 'Biden Effect' on Senior Attorneys: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
- 4BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 5First Lawsuit Filed Alleging Contraceptive Depo-Provera Caused Brain Tumor
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250