Three men are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977
Connected Law: The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq. (“FCPA”)
December 22, 2023
A five-count indictment was unsealed on Wednesday charging a Georgia businessman, a former Honduran government official, and a former Florida resident for their alleged participation in an international scheme to pay and conceal bribes to Honduran government officials to secure contracts to provide uniforms and other goods to the Honduran National Police.
According to court documents, Carl Alan Zaglin, 68, is the owner of a Georgia-based manufacturer of law enforcement uniforms and accessories, and made his initial appearance in federal court on Wednesday; Francisco Roberto Cosenza Centeno, 65, was the former Executive Director of the Comité Técnico del Fideicomiso para la Administración del Fondo de Protección y Seguridad Poblacional (TASA), a Honduran governmental entity that procured goods for the Honduran National Police; and Aldo Nestor Marchena, 50, was a resident of Boca Raton, Florida.
Between March 2015 and continuing until about November 2019, Zaglin, Marchena, and others allegedly agreed to bribe Honduran government officials, including Cosenza, to secure contracts with TASA worth over $10 million. In exchange for the bribes, Cosenza and other Honduran government officials allegedly assisted Zaglin, Marchena, and others in obtaining contracts for the sale of uniforms and other goods for the Honduran National Police and securing payment on the contracts. Zaglin, Marchena, and their co-conspirators allegedly used the proceeds from the corrupt Honduran government contracts to make bribe payments to Honduran government officials.
To promote the scheme and conceal the bribe payments, Zaglin, Marchena, Cosenza, and others allegedly laundered proceeds of the corrupt scheme through bank accounts and front companies in the United States and Belize. As alleged in the indictment, the conspirators sent over $166,000 to bank accounts controlled by Cosenza and another Honduran foreign official in furtherance of the scheme.
The defendants are all charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cosenza and Marchena are also each charged with one count of money laundering and one count of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property. Zaglin and Marchena are also both charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Zaglin is also charged with one count of violating the FCPA. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the money laundering offenses, 10 years in prison on the count of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property, and five years in prison on each of the FCPA-related offenses.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Miami Office made the announcement.
HSI’s Miami Office is investigating the case, with assistance from HSI’s Atlanta Office.
Trial Attorneys Peter L. Cooch and Anthony Scarpelli of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli S. Rubin for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
In June 2021, the Justice Department announced an Anticorruption Task Force to focus on investigations, prosecutions, and asset recoveries related to corruption in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador through the department’s FCPA enforcement program, counternarcotics prosecutions, and Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. Anyone with information about corrupt actors in these countries who are violating U.S. laws or moving proceeds of their crimes in or through the United States may report the conduct in Spanish or English at combatiendocorrupcion@fbi.gov. Tips regarding possible corruption or movements of ill-gotten funds that are received through the email address will be reviewed by the Anticorruption Task Force. Tipsters who want to report suspicious or criminal activity can also contact the HSI Tip Line by calling (866) 347-2423.
The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA matters.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) generally prohibits the bribing of foreign officials. The FCPA also requires publicly traded companies to maintain accurate books and records and to have a system of internal controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that transactions are executed and assets are accounted for in accordance with management’s authorization and recorded as necessary to permit the preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (known as “GAAP”). The FCPA can apply to prohibited conduct anywhere in the world, even, in certain circumstances, where there is no U.S. territorial connection, and extends to publicly traded companies (“issuers”) and their officers, directors, employees, agents, and stockholders. Agents can include third party agents, consultants, distributors, joint-venture partners, and others.
