Och-Ziff to pay $412 million to settle U.S. overseas bribery charges

Och-Ziff Capital control organization LLC will pay $412 million and CEO Daniel Och can pay $2.17 million to clear up U.S. probes into the hedge fund's role in bribing officers in numerous African countries, U.S. authorities stated on Thursday.

inside the first U.S. overseas bribery case in opposition to a hedge fund, Och-Ziff subsidiary ozAfrica control GP LLC pleaded responsible in federal court in Brooklyn to taking part in a scheme to bribe officials within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Och-Ziff meanwhile entered into a deferred prosecution settlement, wherein prices associated with behavior in Congo, Libya, Chad and Niger could be dropped after 3 years if it follows the terms of the deal.

"i would like to emphasize that Och-Ziff has taken considerable remedial efforts to improve its compliance application to ensure something like this may by no means show up again," Mark Schonfeld, a legal professional for the big apple-primarily based company, told a federal choose.

In general, Och-Ziff pays $412 million to solve the U.S. Justice department and U.S. Securities and trade fee instances, $213 million of which constituted a criminal penalty. It also agreed to the appointment of an unbiased screen.

Och agreed to pay $2.17 million to settle SEC charges that triggered certain violations along with CFO Joel Frank, who additionally reached a agreement, the regulator said.

BRIBES TIED TO MINING, SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND

The deals capped U.S. probes into the $39 billion hedge fund firm that focused in component on Michael Cohen, Och-Ziff's former London-based totally head of european investing, who become responsible for investments in Libya and other African countries.

according to authorities, in 2008, Och-Ziff entered right into a partnership with an Israeli businessman with near ties to excessive-degree Congolese officers with the intention to fund his mining-associated pastimes.

at the least two employees, although, knew the businessman won get entry to to those funding opportunities by using bribing officials, prosecutors said. the ones personnel, a person acquainted with the problem stated, were Cohen and an analyst, Vanja Baros.

government did now not call the businessman, whom they said had paid over $one hundred million in bribes to Congolese officers from 2005 to 2012. but the source said it was Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.

Ronald White, Cohen's attorney, in a statement stated "while all the information are recognized, it will likely be clean that he has performed nothing wrong."

Gertler's Fleurette organization declined remark. A lawyer for Baros did not reply to a request for remark.

one after the other, beginning in 2007, an worker, who the source stated become Cohen, engaged a London-primarily based middleman to help it secure an investment from the Libyan sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan investment Authority, prosecutors stated.

Prosecutors said Och-Ziff acquired a $three hundred million investment into its hedge funds, and shortly after entered into an settlement to pay a sham $3.75 million "finder's fee," which it knew might be used to pay Libyan officers in change.

The Justice department stated its research remains ongoing. The probe has resulted in one individual being criminally charged.

In August, Samuel Mebiame, a Gabonese guy who U.S. government said acted as a "fixer" for a joint-assignment involving Och-Ziff, was arrested and accused of conducting a scheme to bribe officials in Africa to attain mining rights.

A criminal grievance said Mebiame supplied coins and motors to 2 Niger officers; an S-class Mercedes Benz sedan and rented personal Airbus jet to a Guinean legitimate; and tour and purchasing costs for an adviser to Chad's president.