“We have reached this conclusion despite the bribery committed by employees and agents of the company,” the DoJ stated in a March 8 letter to Corsa’s counsel.
According to the government’s findings, from approximately late 2016 until early 2020, certain Corsa employees and agents engaged in a scheme to bribe Egyptian government officials “to obtain and retain lucrative contracts to supply coal to Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals (Al Nasr), an Egyptian state-owned and -controlled coke company.”
“Corsa paid approximately $4.8 million to an Egypt-based third-party intermediary that Corsa’s employees knew would be used, at least in part, to pay bribes to Egyptian government officials, including the chairman of Al Nasr,” the letter stated. “In exchange for the bribe payments, Corsa secured approximately $143 million in coal contracts from Al Nasr and earned approximately $32.7 million in profits.”
In declining prosecution, the DoJ said it considered the following factors:
- Corsa’s timely and voluntary self-disclosure of the misconduct;
- Corsa’s full and proactive cooperation in this matter (including its provision of all known relevant facts about the misconduct, including information about the individuals involved in the conduct) and its agreement to continue to cooperate with any ongoing government investigations and any prosecutions that have resulted or might result in the future;
- The nature and seriousness of the offense;
- Corsa’s timely and appropriate remediation, including terminating a sales representative who engaged in the bribe scheme and substantially improving its compliance program and internal controls; and
- The fact that Corsa agrees to and will disgorge what ill-gotten gains it’s able to pay, in the amount of $1.2 million.
In a statement, Corsa acknowledged the DoJ’s declination, but said it “does not intend to make any further public comments regarding these matters, unless required by law or stock exchange rules.” The company added that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police concluded its investigation regarding the matter without recommending any charges.
In March 2022, the DoJ announced the arrest of a former coal company executive on charges of FCPA violations, laundering funds, and receiving kickbacks for his alleged role in the scheme to pay bribes to government officials in Egypt in connection with contracts with Al Nasr. That investigation remains open. 
Jaclyn Jaeger is a contributing editor at Compliance Chief 360° and a freelance business writer based in Manchester, New Hampshire.