Georgia Man Convicted of Bribing Honduran Officials in Violation of FCPA
A jury convicted a Georgia businessman on Sept. 15 for his role in a scheme to bribe Honduran government officials to secure business for a Georgia-based manufacturer of law enforcement uniforms and accessories in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ announced. Carl Zaglin was found to have paid bribes to secure business with "Comite Tecnico del Fideicomiso para la Administracion del Fondo de Proteccion y Seguridad Poblacional (TASA), a Honduran governmental entity that procured goods for the Honduran National Police and other Honduran security agencies."
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From March 2015 to November 2019, Zaglin, acting as owner and CEO of Atlanco, paid the bribes to TASA officials to secure contracts worth over $10 million. The bribes were paid through a Florida-based intermediary, who received $2.5 million in payments through "sham invoices authorized by Zaglin," DOJ said. The TASA officials and the Florida-based intermediary all previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the bribery scheme, DOJ said.
To hide the bribes, Zaglin and his co-conspirators used veiled language such as "commissions" and "fees" to refer to the bribes, as well as encrypted messaging applications, DOJ said. The jury convicted Zaglin of one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, one count of violating the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for both FCPA counts and 20 years in prison for the money laundering count.