LEGAL ENVIRONMENT 4 - Essay Example

to get the contract approved by the Niger president. The bribes were accepted by the Niger officials and the contract to supply arms went through. Analysis : According to the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act it is unlawful for any U.S. citizen / company, to bribe or to make a corrupt payment to a foreign official of any govt. or company for the sole purpose of obtaining or retaining business in order to beat the competition. According to the Anti- Bribery provisions of the FCPA it applies to any individual, firm, officer, director, employee, or agent of a firm and any stockholder acting on behalf of a firm.

Also the person who makes or authorizes of making the payment should have a corrupt intention, and the payment must be directed to induce the recipient to misuse his official position to direct business wrongfully to the payer or to any other person. -- The FCPA completely prohibits payments, making a offer of bribe, or making a promise to pay (or authorizing a third party or intermediary to pay or offer) money or anything of value. The prohibition applies to any foreign public official irrespective of his rank or position, it also extends of making corrupt payments to a foreign political party or party official, or any candidate for foreign political office.

According to FCPA the prohibition applies to payments made in order to assist the firm / company in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person. ( S 78dd-2. Prohibited foreign trade practices by domestic concerns).Now if we analyze the facts of the Niger case in light of the provisions of the FCPA the case is crystal clear. In the Niger case the Vice President of NAPCO Richard H. Liebo was directly involved in first promising to pay one Captain Ali Tiemogo, chief of maintenance for the Niger Air Force in return for getting the contract of supply of arms by NAPCO to be approved by the president.

Even later, Liebo was directly involved as a representative of NAPCO in paying bribes to Captain Ali Tiemogo and his cousin Tahirou Barke who incidentally was also the first consular for the Niger Embassy in Washington,DC. NAPCO issued commission checks to three "agents" identified as Amadou Mailele, Captain Tiemogo's brother-in-law; Fatouma Boube, Captain Tiemogo's sister-in-law; and Miss E. Dave, Mr. Barke's girlfriend. It is immaterial that Neither Mr. Mailele, Ms. Boube, nor Ms Dave, however, received the commission checks or acted as NAPCO's agent and these individuals were merely intermediaries through whom NAPCO made payments to Captain Tiemogo and Mr.

Barke as according to FCPA even payments made to or through intermediaries is liable to prosecution. Even the fact that neither NAPCO's corporate president, Henri Jacob, nor another superior of Mr. Liebo's approved the payment of these "commission payments." is immaterial and NAPCO is liable for prosecution as per the penal provisions of FCPA. This position is also supported by the judicial decisions in United States of America, Appellee, vs. Robert Richard KING, Appellant.( 2003 WL 22938694 (8th Cir.(Mo) and USA versus David Kay(Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas(No. Crim.A.H-01-914)