The US Justice Department on Wednesday charged a third executive of French power company Alstom with taking part in a scheme to bribe Indonesian officials in violation of US anti-corruption laws.
William Pomponi, 65, a former vice president of sales of Alstom’s US subsidiary in Connecticut, was charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and for money laundering for his role in the bribery scheme, which secured Alstom large contracts for an Indonesian power project.
In mid-April the Justice Department unveiled charges against two other men, Frederic Pierucci, a vice president at Alstom Power Systems, and David Rothschild, formerly an Alstom regional sales director, for their roles in the case.
Rothschild pleaded guilty last November while the indictments in the case were still secret.
The charges against Pomponi allege he worked with the two others to funnel bribes to an influential minister of the Indonesian parliament whom they expected could help secure contracts for the Tarahan power project for Alstom.
“The defendants, together with others, paid bribes to officials in Indonesia, including a member of Indonesian Parliament and high-ranking members of Perusahaan Listrik Negara, the state-owned and state-controlled electricity company in Indonesia, in exchange for assistance in securing a $118 million contract,” the department said in a statement.
Pomponi faces up to 20 years in prison on the money laundering charges and a maximum of five years on each of the FCPA violations.
US charges 3rd Alstom exec for Indonesia bribery
