On July 20, 2020, Edward Thiessen, a former Alstom SA executive who previously pled guilty in July of 2019 to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, was sentenced to time served. As described in court filings, Thiessen participated in a conspiracy to pay bribes to Indonesian government officials in exchange for their help in securing a contract to provide “power-related services” to Indonesia.
Thiessen, a Canadian citizen who, based on the information filed by the US Department of Justice, never visited the U.S. as part of the bribery scheme, had agreed as part of his plea agreement to cooperate with the DOJ’s enforcement action. This cooperation ultimately included testifying against Thiessen’s former supervisor and colleague, Lawrence Hoskins, in October of 2019. Hoskins was initially convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, six counts of violating the FCPA anti-bribery provisions, one count of conspiring to launder money, and three counts of money laundering. However, in February 2020, the district court granted Hoskins’ motion for acquittal with respect to the FCPA anti-bribery and conspiracy to violate the FCPA charges. In March 2020, Hoskins was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the remaining convictions against him.
In light of Thiessen’s cooperation, the DOJ filed a motion asking the court for a downward departure from the applicable sentencing guideline range, and, in particular, stated that Thiessen should be sentenced “far more leniently” than Hoskins. The court agreed and sentenced Thiessen to time served with no supervised release, and ordered Thiessen to pay a $15,000 fine.
Thiessen Sentence | Thiessen Information | Thiessen Plea Agreement | DOJ Motion for Downward Departure | DOJ Memo in Support of Motion for Downward Departure