The UK Serious Fraud Office has announced a £1,198,424.78 (approximately $1.58 million) forfeiture secured from Julio Faerman, a Brazilian national investigated by Brazilian and UK prosecutors for paying bribes to officials in Brazil on behalf of SBM Offshore NV, a Dutch company that sells floating production and mooring systems to the oil and gas industry globally.
Faerman entered into a co-operation agreement with Brazilian prosecutors in 2015, agreeing to pay $54 million and to continue cooperating with the investigation. The SFO opened its own investigation in the same year. According to the SFO, Faerman is suspected of having used the proceeds of his criminal conduct – commissions he received for facilitating the bribe payments — to purchase a luxury apartment in West London worth £4.35 million. The SFO secured a property freezing order on that property in January 2019, and a disclosure order to help investigators trace the trajectory of the funds used to purchase the property, pursuant to sections 357 and 245A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Faerman’s application to discharge the disclosure order was dismissed in June 2020.
On October 29, 2020, Faerman entered into a settlement with the SFO to pay the amount of £1,198,424.78 plus the SFOs £57,000 costs. Until the settlement is satisfied, the freezing and disclosure orders remain in effect.