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US Attorney For The District of New Jersey Reverses Course And Requests Adjournment For Foreign Bribery Case Against Tech Executives On Eve of Trial
03/11/2025On March 4, 2025, one day before a trial against former tech executives for alleged foreign bribery charges was set to commence, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey requested 180-day adjournment. The United States Attorney sought the adjournment to allow time to consider the application of President Trump’s executive order (“Executive Order”) related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), noting that he only assumed the position of US Attorney on March 3, 2025. The United States Attorney’s predecessor performed a similar analysis, informing the Court on February 21, 2025 that, following its review of the case pursuant to the Executive Order, the Government intended to proceed to trial.
On February 10, 2025, President Trump signed the Executive Order, entitled “Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security.” The Executive Order directs the Attorney General, for a period of 180 days following the date of the order, to (i) cease initiation of any new FCPA investigations or enforcement actions, (ii) review all existing FCPA investigations or enforcement actions and take appropriate action with respect to such matters, and (iii) issue updated guidelines to adequately promote the President’s authority to conduct foreign affairs and prioritize American interests.
According to the United States Attorney’s predecessor’s February 21 letter to the Court, the Government performed the review called for by the Executive Order and concluded that the appropriate action was to proceed to trial. The United States Attorney’s more recent request for an adjournment of the trial based on the same Executive Order sows confusion and raises questions about the discretion afforded to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to take appropriate action with respect to ongoing FCPA enforcement actions.
In the underlying case, the Government charged two former senior executives of a global information technology services provider with allegedly approving a payment of approximately $2 million to Indian officials in connection with the construction of a new office park. According to the indictment, filed on February 14, 2019, these executives paid bribes to unnamed government officials to secure a planning permit necessary for constructing a new office campus to support approximately 17,000 employees. The DOJ alleged that the two executives pressured the construction company obtaining the permits by threatening to withhold payments until the permits were obtained. The executives also allegedly offered to reimburse the costs associated with the improper payments. The DOJ alleged that the defendants and their co-conspirators agreed to pay the construction company for an alleged cost overrun in the invoices and change orders. The tech company’s real estate group also allegedly altered descriptions of work in the invoices to further conceal payments.
On February 11, 2025, the day after President Trump signed the Executive Order, counsel for the two former executives asked Acting United States Deputy Attorney General, Emil Bove, to dismiss the case. On February 21, 2025, the Acting US Attorney effectively rejected counsel’s request. On March 4, 2025, the United States Attorney arguably put the request back in play.
In response to the United States Attorney’s March 4 letter request, the Court postponed the start of trial to March 17, 2025 due to a medical issue. The judge signaled that he is inclined to allow time for the United States Attorney to review the case. However, he ordered both sides to file briefs by March 10, 2025, to help determine the proper timeline.
It remains to be seen whether the United States Attorney will continue to pursue the charges in light of his understanding of Trump’s Executive Order pausing enforcement of the FCPA or if similar actions will take place in other jurisdictions. Regardless, we expect that there will be fewer FCPA actions as the Government and its agencies continue to work to understand the Executive Order.
