Och-Ziff agrees to pay $198M to settle bribery charges

Och-Ziff Capital Management Group agreed to pay nearly $200 million to settle charges the fund used intermediaries to bribe high-level government officials in several African countries, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Thursday.

The SEC found Och-Ziff in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing officials at the Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund, inducing it to invest. The commission also accused Och-Ziff of using illicit funds to gain influence over government officials in Chad, Niger, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

The fund agreed to pay just under $173.2 million in disgorgement plus $25.9 million in interest.

“Och-Ziff engaged in complicated, far-reaching schemes to get special access and secure significant deals and profits through corruption,” Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said.

Daniel Och, the fund’s CEO, agreed to pay roughly $2.2 million, while CFO Joel Frank agreed to pay a fee to be determined at a later date to settle charges the executives ignored corruption risks and allowed illicit transactions to continue. 

“Senior executives cannot turn a blind eye to the acts of their employees or agents when they became aware of suspicious transactions with high-risk partners in foreign countries,” Ceresney said. 

As part of a parallel criminal proceeding, Och-Ziff stated it expected to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department. 

The investigation is ongoing, the SEC said.  

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