Former Tech Exec Sentenced For Bribery Scheme
A former Alcatel CIT executive was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for engaging in an elaborate bribery scheme to obtain a mobile telephone contract from the state-owned telecommunications authority in Costa Rica, the Justice Department announced. Christian Sapsizian, a French citizen who was most recently worked for the vice president of the firm's Latin America division, made more than $2.5 million in corrupt payments to Costa Rican officials. He pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in March 2007.
Sapsizian, a 20-year employee of the telecom company, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz in Miami, Fla., to forfeit $261,500; to serve three years of supervised release; and to pay a $200 special assessment. As part of his plea, Sapsizian agreed to cooperate with U.S. and foreign law enforcement officials in the ongoing investigation. He admitted in court that between February 2000 and September 2004, he conspired with a Costa Rican citizen who was Alcatel’s senior country officer in that country, and others to set up the bribe payments.
The money was given to a director for Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, the state-run telecom authority in Costa Rica. According to plea documents, Alcatel was awarded a mobile phone contract by ICE in August 2001 valued at $149 million.
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