Noticeboard
BCL represent first executive to be prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office for overseas corruption.
Richard Sallybanks and Shaul Brazil represented Robert John Dougall, the first executive to be prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for overseas corruption. The case arose out of corrupt practices in the supply of orthopaedic products by Mr Dougall’s employer, DePuy International Limited, to the public healthcare sector in Greece.
Mr Dougall entered into a “Co-operating Defendant” agreement with the SFO under which he agreed to plead guilty and to assist the SFO and the United States Department of Justice in their investigations and any subsequent prosecutions. This was the first occasion on which the SFO had entered into a “Co-operating Defendant” agreement in an overseas corruption investigation. In return for his assistance, the US authorities entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement, while in the UK Mr Dougall received a substantially reduced sentence when the Court of Appeal, overturning the decision of the first instance judge, imposed a suspended prison sentence:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7125154.ece
The Court of Appeal’s judgment (http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/judgments_guidance/r-v-dougall.pdf) reviews the approach to sentencing in such cases and is of significance as increasingly the SFO (and other investigating and prosecuting agencies including the Financial Services Authority) look to incentivise co-operation with their investigations.
