SEC Charges Medical Device Company With FCPA Violations

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA (FMC) has agreed to pay more than $231 million to resolve parallel SEC and U.S. Department of Justice investigations related to its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) across multiple countries for nearly a decade. The SEC’s order finds that FMC, a German-based worldwide provider of products and services for individuals with chronic kidney failure engaged in misconduct in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Angola, Turkey, Spain, China, Serbia, Bosnia, Mexico, and eight countries in the West African region against a backdrop where the company failed to have sufficient internal accounting controls. FMC made improper payments through a variety of schemes, including using sham consulting contracts, falsifying documents, and funneling bribes through a system of third party intermediaries.