Canadian Health Science Company and Employee Settle Civil FCPA Charges in Failed Quest for Drug Distribution in Russia

Hiring the purported friend of a company employee to facilitate the distribution of a liver treatment drug in Russia is behind the SEC’s FCPA settlements with Nordion (Canada) Inc. and employee Mikhail Gourevitch. Gourevitch allegedly orchestrated a scheme for his “friend” to pay bribes to Russian officials to get the approval, hid the extra costs from the company and received a kickback. The SEC said weak internal controls at Nordion (the predecessor-in-interest to Nordion (Canada), which purchased Nordion during this investigation) allowed the scheme to go undetected, including payments to offshore bank accounts. Nordion ultimately was unable to distribute the drug and made no profits. See “Ten Steps A Company Can Take to Mitigate Corruption Risk When Entering a New Market (Part One of Two)” (Jun. 24, 2015); Part Two (Jul. 8, 2015).

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