Second Circuit Upholds Dismissal of FCPA Conspiracy Charge
The panel said the FCPA's clear distinctions over who can be held liable prevented federal authorities from extending liability through the use of a conspiracy charge.
August 24, 2018 at 05:58 PM
6 minute read
An attempt by the government to extend its reach under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was headed off by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Friday, upholding a lower court's dismissal of conspiracy charges against a foreign national.
Consisting of Chief Judge Robert Katzmann and Circuit Judges Rosemary Pooler and Gerard Lynch, the panel ruled that U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of the District of Connecticut was right, in part, in dismissing the government's conspiracy charge. Lynch issued a separate concurring opinion, while Pooler wrote the unanimous opinion.
The decision turned on a close reading of the FCPA's definition of who could potentially be held liable in a conspiracy situation. Pointing to precedent, the panel found that Congress had used “surgical precision” to define liabilities in the statute, and falling outside those liabilities necessarily bars an attempt by prosecutors to rope a person in on conspiracy charges.
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