A jury in the UK has acquitted three former executives of Guralp Systems Ltd of conspiracy to make corrupt payments to a South Korean public official. The conclusion of the trial removed reporting restrictions on an October 2019 DPA reached by the SFO and Guralp in which the company accepted the charges of conspiracy to make corrupt payments and a failure to prevent bribery by employees.
Guralp self-reported to both the SFO and the DOJ in October 2015 when a new executive chairman formed suspicions about payments made to Dr. Heon-Cheol Chi, a Principal Researcher and Centre Head of the Earthquake Research Centre at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. The DOJ issued a letter of declination to Guralp closing its inquiry “notwithstanding evidence of violations of the FCPA arising from GSL’s payments to Chi.” The SFO commenced its own independent and comprehensive investigation that resulted in the DPA.
According to the DPA, Guralp has agreed to pay a total of £2,069,861 for disgorgement of gross profits to the SFO and to review and maintain its existing internal controls, policies, and procedures regarding compliance with the Bribery Act 2010.