Wolff Quoted in Anti-Corruption Report on the Dangers Companies Face When Hiring a Consultant

Petrobras Denouement: Fixer Zwi Skornicki Gets Probation and a $50K Fine from the E.D.N.Y.
– Anti-Corruption Report

Investigations and white collar defense partner Jacqueline Wolff spoke with Anti-Corruption Report about the risks that companies face when hiring foreign consultants following Brazilian consultant Zwi Skornicki’s sentence for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in the Eastern District of New York. In the article, Wolff comments that the Department of Justice’s decision to charge the former director of legal at Keppel, who drafted Skornicki’s consulting agreements, should give in-house counsel pause when drafting agreements for any overseas third party who may interact with foreign officials but particularly “where the pay under the contract is significant.” Wolff notes that conducting due diligence on any third-party with whom a company plans to do business and undertaking a thorough review of any proposed terms for red flags are crucial steps that a company can take to protect itself, suggesting that in the best of worlds, “a fair market value analysis should be required before any consulting arrangement overseas is entered into. If the result of the analysis is that the fee does not comport with the value of the services, the agreement should not be executed without a satisfactory explanation from the business that does not suggest a wink to bribery.”

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