On August 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice sent Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (“BCG”) a declination letter, which it also posted on the DOJ’s website. In the letter, the DOJ stated it would not prosecute the company under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for alleged improper payments made by BCG personnel between 2011 and 2017 in exchange for BCG’s agreement to disgorge $14.424 million in alleged improper profits. According to the letter, BCG employees in Portugal allegedly paid a third party approximately $4.3 million in commissions in order to secure business worth $22.5 million from the Angolan Government, including the Angolan Ministry of Economy and the National Bank of Angola. The commissions were allegedly 20 to 35 percent of the value of any government contracts obtained, and payment was made to offshore entities affiliated with the agent.
The DOJ declined to prosecute BCG pursuant to its Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy. According to the DOJ, BCG promptly and voluntarily informed the DOJ of the improper payments shortly after the company discovered them, fully and proactively cooperated with the DOJ’s investigation, and undertook substantial remediation, including significant improvements to employee training and third-party screening processes, the termination of the offending individuals from BCG, and the withholding of bonuses. As part of the resolution, BCG agreed to disgorge $14.4 million in profits earned from the contracts allegedly obtained through bribery.