On February 15, 2024, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida unsealed an information charging Mexican citizen Mauricio Gomez Baez, a resident of Miami, with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). Gomez Baez formerly served as Senior Vice President of Stericycle’s Latin American division for the international waste management company Stericycle, Inc.
According to court documents, between 2011 and 2016, Gomez Baez conspired with other Stericycle employees to pay approximately $10.5 million in bribes to Mexican, Brazilian, and Argentinian officials in order to obtain for Stericycle improper advantages in securing government contracts for the disposal of medical waste. These contracts were typically re-bid annually, and, according to the Information, Gomez Baez directed employees of Stericycle’s Latin America division to bribe regional government officials to win and then retain these contracts.
Gomez Baez is currently scheduled to be arraigned on February 27, 2024.
In 2022, Stericycle agreed to pay more than $84 million to resolve parallel bribery investigations by US and Brazilian authorities. As part of the settlement, the company admitted that it paid $10.5 million in bribe payments between 2011 and 2016 to retain and obtain contracts in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. According to the US Department of Justice, Stericycle earned approximately $21.5 million in profits from the scheme.