Federal prosecutors recently notified the District Court for the Southern District of Florida of their intention to proceed with a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) case against three individuals involving the alleged payment of bribes to Honduran officials. The notice, filed on April 11, 2025, followed the executive order issued by President Trump on February 10, 2025, that paused FCPA enforcement actions for a period of up to six months.
According to the indictment, between approximately March 2015 and November 2019, the three defendants—Carl Alan Zaglin, Francisco Roberto Cosenza Centeno, and Aldo Nestor Marchena—engaged in a scheme to pay bribes to Honduran government officials, including Cosenza, in exchange for more than $10 million dollars’ worth of contracts with the Comité Técnico del Fideicomiso para la Administración del Fondo de Protección y Seguridad Poblacional (“TASA”) for uniforms and other services. The TASA is a Honduran government entity that, among other things, procures goods for the Honduran National Police. At the time of the offenses, Cosenza was the Executive Director of the TASA. Zaglin was the CEO of a Georgia-based company that owned and operated a factory in Honduras that manufactured law enforcement uniforms and accessories, and Marchena controlled a series of entities and bank accounts in the Southern District of Florida, according to the indictment. More than $166,000 in corrupt payments were paid to Cosenza and another Honduran official in furtherance of the scheme, according to the Department of Justice.
All three defendants were charged with money laundering related offenses for their roles in the scheme. Zaglin and Marchena were also charged with conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and Zaglin was additionally charged with one count of violating the FCPA.
Notice of Authorization to Proceed | DOJ Press Release – December 22, 2023 | Indictment