Md. logistics firm to pay $2M to resolve Russian bribery charges

A company that provides services for the transportation of nuclear materials has agreed to resolve criminal charges involving the bribery of an official of a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corp. and pay a $2 million penalty, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The Justice Department said in its statement that following an FBI investigation, Fulton, Maryland-based Transport Logistics International Inc. was charged with conspiracy to violate anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.

The statement said beginning in at least 2004 and continuing at least until 2014, TLI conspired with others to pay more than $1.7 million to off-shore bank accounts associated with shell companies at the direction and benefit of Vadim Mikerin, a Russian official at Moscow-based JSC Techsnabexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corp.

It said the bribe payments were made to help the company secure improper business advantages and obtain and retain the subsidiary’s business.

The company’s executives and others had fake invoices prepared to describe TLI services that were never provided. TLI then wired payments for those purported services to shell companies in Latvia, Cyprus and Switzerland, the Justice Department said.

The department said company co-president Daren Condrey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit fraud in 2015. In January, an 11-count indictment was unsealed against TLI co-president Mark Lambert charging him with violating the FCPA and wire fraud charges, among other charges.

Mr. Mikerin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering involving FCPA violations and was sentenced to 48 months in prison in December 2015.

A company spokesman could not be reached for comment.