UPDATED with name of company
An executive of a Rancho Santa Margarita company that sells valves for power plants has pleaded guilty to approving $1 million in bribes to officials of state-owned companies in Brazil, China, India, Korea, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.
Mario Covino, 44, a native of Italy, pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. companies from paying bribes, among other offenses, to procure business overseas.
Under his plea agreement, Covino could face a maximum five years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for July 20.
From 2003 to 2007, according to the plea agreement, Covino was director of worldwide factory sales for a Rancho Santa Margarita company that makes valves for use in nuclear, oil, gas and other types of power plants.
Court documents did not name Covino’s company. But Control Components Inc. in Rancho Santa Margarita issued a statement confirming that a former employee had reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. The statement by the company’s attorney, Tom Walsh, said CCI and its parent IMI plc would not comment on the case. It continued:
No current employees of CCI or IMI are expected to be included in any further prosecutions by the US Department of Justice in respect of this matter.
IMI initiated an independent investigation into irregular payments associated with certain trading contracts entered into by CCI, its severe service business, in August 2007. This independent investigation has been completed and we continue to hope that we can resolve this matter with the US Department of Justice by the end of March 2009.
The plea agreement said Covino instructed employees to delete e-mails that referred to corrupt payments in his efforts to obstruct his company’s investigation into the scheme.
To see the press release, CLICK HERE.
To see the plea agreement, CLICK HERE.
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“Company A” sounds like Control Components Inc. unless there is a very similar company in RSM.
I am not involved in the “business world,” I’m ignorant to how everything is supposed to work, but I have to wonder if the bribes were not given would the contracts and business have been given to a foreign competitor, taking way jobs and the tax revenue that comes with it?
Poor guy, i bet he was following orders from his boss. I hope the real criminals don’t get off free and clear.
It’s sad to see that some people get investigated and caught for things others get away with easily. Wrong is wrong, but it should be for everyone, not just some people. Investigations only occur against non-Caucasians in OC.