Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming December 2015 34 Blast from the Past T he Act’s criminal provisions have swept upmore than 170 individuals and entities, foreign and American both, just in the last dozen or so years—owners, CEOs, presidents, CFOs, directors, treasurers, generalmanagers, employees, joint venture partners, trust fund managers, contractors, translators, even Hollywood producers—mostly in connection with actual or purported schemes to bribe foreign government officials to obtain business or secure some kind of commercial or financial advantage. At least 29 men and women have lost some measure of their physical freedom as a result of FCPA convictions or guilty pleas. More than US$3 billion in fines and other monetary penalties have been exacted. A Louisiana congressman convicted of bribery in a 2009 jury trial that included FCPA charges is doing 13 years. In 2010, a Exactly three years ago in December 2012 IAG examined the Wynn vs Okada feud in light of increased prosecution of US companies engaging in overseas bribery. Despite a set of circumstances that seemed to be begging to be investigated, it’s been all quiet on the Eastern Front. We take a look back at the history behind the falling out of Wynn and Okada and its relationship to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. corporate vice president got 87 months after pleading guilty to paying bribes to secure maritime contracts in Panama. And the Act is being enforced more vigorously now than at any time in its history, something Wynn’s lawyers would not have failed to note as relations with Mr Okada got uglier, and from the board’s standpoint increasingly worrisome, over his plans to develop a resort-scale casino in Manila in competition with his own company. Or so it’s portrayed in Wynn’s 2012 lawsuit charging the Japanese billionaire with “breach of fiduciary trust”. As Justice Department records show, almost half of all enforcement actions initiated under the FCPA or related statutes have occurred since Barack Obama took office in 2009—92 to date—more than under any president going back to Jimmy Carter, December 2012 Foreign Affairs