Novo Nordisk Deferred Prosecution Agreement

A DOJ Press Releasereports on a deferred prosecution agreement entered into by "Novo Nordisk A/S (Novo), a Danish corporation based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark."  The agreement calls for the company to pay a penalty of "$9 million penalty for illegal kickbacks paid to the former Iraqi government."  This case is part of the DOJ's investigation "into the UN Oil-for-Food program." The DOJ filed "one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate the books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)."  The DOJ Press Release states:

"According to the agreement and the information filed today, between 2001 and 2003, Novo paid approximately $1.4 million to the former Iraqi government by inflating the price of contracts by 10 percent before submitting the contracts to the United Nations for approval and concealed from the United Nations the fact that the price contained a kickback to the former Iraqi government. Novo also admitted it inaccurately recorded the kickback payments as "commissions" in its books and records."

See also FCPA Blog here; Reuters here.

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