POTUS Walks ASEAN's Mean Streets

President Obama meets tomorrow on Bali, Indonesia with the heads of state from ASEAN -- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ASEAN hasn't been effective in spreading free trade and investment across the region. A big obstacle is corruption. Although the group includes Singapore, ranked as the least corrupt country in the world on the CPI, it also includes some of the planet's most corrupt nations.

Even with Singapore, the average CPI rank for ASEAN's ten members is 101, dragged down by Cambodia (154), Laos (154), and Myanmar (176), which managed to beat only Somalia. 

On the President's agenda in Bali will be 'improving economic integration and addressing security challenges in the region.' Both start with fighting corruption.

Here are the ASEAN countries in order of their CPI ranking:

Singapore (1)

Brunei  (38)

Malaysia (56)

Thailand (78)

Indonesia (110)

Vietnam (116)

Philippines (134)

Cambodia (154)

Laos (154)

Myanmar (176)

Feds Drop Green Appeal; Siriwan Facing Prosecution At Home

The government on Tuesday ended efforts to put a Hollywood producer and his wife back in prison.

Gerald Green, 79, and his wife Patricia, 56, were released from federal custody in May after serving six-month jail terms for FCPA and money-laundering violations.

An LA jury convicted them in 2009 of paying $1.8 million in bribes to Juthamas Siriwan, left, then-governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, in exchange for $13.5 million in contracts to produce the Bangkok film festival.

In October last year, the government filed a notice of appeal against the Greens' short jail sentences.

Prosecutors had pushed for prison terms of at least ten years. But Judge George Wu gave them each six-months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release. 

The Justice Department won a forfeiture count, leaving the Greens indigent and needing court-appointed lawyers.

The DOJ's appeal made our list of the worst FCPA prosecution decisions ever.

In Bangkok Tuesday, Thailand's National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) ruled against the former tourism official.

The Bangkok Post said Juthamas Siriwan can now be prosecuted in Thailand for accepting bribes from the Greens.

Siriwan, 64, and her daughter, Jittisopa Siriwan, 32, are fugitives from a U.S. indictment. In January last year, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles charged them with eight counts of conspiracy to launder money, transporting funds to promote unlawful activity, and aiding and abetting. The DOJ is also seeking criminal forfeiture against them.

They didn't appear in U.S. court to answer the charges.

Siriwan was found by the NACC to have  'committed criminal offences as a former state official in connection with the case.' Her daughter was found to be complicit. The finding means they can now be prosecuted in a Thai court.

The Bangkok Post said Siriwan was invited to testify at the NACC hearing but didn't appear.

Thailand and the United States have an extradition treaty. But according to the Bangkok Post, the Thai attorney general's office hasn't received any extradition request from the U.S. for Siriwan and her daughter.

Download a copy of the government's August 23, 2011 voluntary dismissal of the appeal against the Greens' sentences here.

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Our thanks to the reader in D.C. who sent the link to the Bangkok Post story about Juthamas Siriwan.

Diageo Pays $16.4 Million In SEC Settlement

London-based Diageo plc will pay the SEC more than $16 million to resolve FCPA offenses that stretched over six years and involved bribes to foreign officials in India, Thailand, and South Korea.

The maker of many top liquor brands -- including Johnnie Walker and Windsor Scotch whiskeys -- paid $2.7 million in bribes through subsidiaries for sales and tax benefits.

Diageo's civil penalty consists of $11,306,081 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest of $2,067,739, and a further penalty of $3 million.

The company apparently won't be prosecuted by the DOJ for the offenses.

Diageo paid $1.7 million in bribes to government officials in India from 2003 to mid-2009. "The officials were responsible for purchasing or authorizing the sale of its beverages in India," the SEC said, "and increased sales from these payments yielded more than $11 million in profit for the company."

In Thailand, Diageo paid $12,000 per month from 2004 to 2008– totaling nearly $600,000 – to a Thai government and political-party official for "consulting" services. He intervened on Diageo’s behalf in multi-million dollar tax and customs disputes, helping it win favorable decisions from the Thai government.

In South Korea, it paid $86,000 to a customs official "as a reward for his role in the government’s decision to grant Diageo significant tax rebates." Other payments went to customs officials for travel and entertainment expenses connected with the tax negotiations. Diageo also gave hundreds of cash payments as gifts to South Korean military officials to obtain and retain liquor business.

“For years, Diageo’s subsidiaries made hundreds of illicit payments to foreign government officials,” said Scott W. Friestad, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “As a result of Diageo’s lax oversight and deficient controls, the subsidiaries routinely used third parties, inflated invoices, and other deceptive devices to disguise the true nature of the payments.”

It's unusual for the SEC to resolve FCPA violations with administrative action only. Usually it files a civil enforcement suit in federal court. 

The SEC said Diageo cooperated with the investigation and took remedial measures, "including the termination of employees involved in the misconduct and significant enhancements to its FCPA compliance program."

Diageo plc trades on the NYSE under the symbol DEO.

View the SEC's July 27, 2011 news release here.

Download the SEC's Release No. 64978, Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 3307, and Administrative Proceeding File No. 3-14490 (all dated July 27, 2011) here.

Feds Delay Appeal On The Greens

Gerald and Patricia Green -- the only husband and wife ever convicted of FCPA offenses -- are still waiting to hear what the government will say in its appeal of their six-month jail terms.

Prosecutors last month asked for and received a 90-day extension on the deadline to file their first appellate brief, now due August 29.

In 2009, an LA jury found the Greens guilty of paying $1.8 million in bribes to Juthamas Siriwan, then-governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, in exchange for $13.5 million in contracts to produce the Bangkok film festival.

The government pushed for long prison sentences for their FCPA offenses and money laundering -- at least ten years for each of the Greens. Judge George Wu gave them six-months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release.

After the sentencing, the DOJ filed a notice that it intended to appeal.

The Justice Department also won a forfeiture count, leaving the Greens indigent and in need of court-appointed lawyers.

Two months ago we said: If the government wins its appeal, will the Greens go back to prison? It's still not clear if that's what prosecutors want, but it could be.

Gerald Green, 79, suffers from emphysema. He served most of his jail time at Terminal Island, California. His wife was 85 miles away, in Victorville prison in Adelanto.

Mr. Green's court-appointed lawyer for the appeal will be Harold J. Krent. He's the dean and a professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. He told us earlier this year that he didn't know what issues the government would raise on appeal, and was waiting for the fed's first brief.

Patricia Green, 56, is represented by her court-appointed lawyer, Marilyn Bednarski of Kaye, McLane and Bednarski, a criminal defense firm in LA. She represented Mrs. Green at the trial.

Joe Palazzolo wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the delay is needed because the U.S. solicitor general hasn't authorized the appeal.

"Under Justice Department guidelines," Palazzolo wrote, "the solicitor general — Donald Verrilli Jr. was confirmed to the post earlier this month – must sign off on all government appeals. But it’s unusual for the process to take this long, which suggests there may be some disagreement within the department over how to proceed."

Gerald Green's lawyer, Harold Krent, told the WSJ, “My guess is they are considering anew whether to go forward."

Hollywood Couple Released From Jail

The only husband and wife to be convicted of FCPA offenses are out of prison.

Former Hollywood movie producer Gerald Green, 79, was released from federal custody on May 26. His wife Paticia, 56, was freed a day later.

The Greens served six months in prison after an LA jury convicted them in 2009 of paying $1.8 million in bribes to Juthamas Siriwan, then-governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, in exchange for $13.5 million in contracts to produce the Bangkok film festival.

Gerald Green served most of his time at Terminal Island, California. His wife was 85 miles away, in Victorville prison in Adelanto.

The Greens own a house in West Hollywood. But the government will sieze it on August 1st under the court's forfeiture order. The government has already seized their car, bank accounts, and pension assets. 

The DOJ is appealing against the Greens' short jail sentences. The court appointed lawyers for the now-indigent couple to handle the appeal.

Among Gerald Green's fourteen Hollywood credits as producer or executive producer are Rescue Dawn (2006), Diamonds (1999), The New Swiss Family Robinson (1998), and Salvador (1986).