Two employees, working in South America, hatch a fraudulent scheme while communicating via instant messenger. At another company, employees in Asia attempt to conceal their responsibility for rigging bids on government contracts by “wiping” their computer systems at the onset of an internal investigation. Both of these recent and real examples were resolved successfully with the help of sophisticated data forensics, an increasingly important component of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations.
While corporations await the updated guidelines on FCPA enforcement provisions recently announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, one thing remains clear: The U.S. Department of Justice is devoting additional resources to accelerate FCPA enforcement. Samuel Rubenfeld, “Breuer Teases FCPA Guidance To Come In 2012,” Wall St. J., Nov. 8, 2011. Both the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission have increased the resources devoted to investigating FCPA-related violations. According to the SEC, data enforcement actions reached an all-time high of 26 in 2010 nearly an 86 percent increase from the year before. Part of this increase can be attributed to the 2009 formation of the agency’s specialized FCPA unit. Meanwhile, DOJ initiated 48 enforcement actions that same year a leap of about 85 percent from 2009. Melissa Aguilar, “2010 FCPA Enforcement Shatters Records,” Compliance Week, Jan. 4, 2011.
