Former Nexus Technologies Inc. Executive Pleads Guilty to Bribing Vietnamese Officials
In June 2009, the Department of Justice announced that Joseph Lukas, a former executive of Nexus Technologies Inc. (“Nexus”), pleaded guilty to violating the FCPA based on his participation in a scheme to bribe Vietnamese officials. According to the criminal indictment filed in September 2008, Lukas (a U.S. citizen who was engaged in a joint venture with Nexus and who had oversight responsibilities for Nexus’ New Jersey office), agreed to pay, and knowingly paid, bribes to individuals employed by various commercial arms of Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Public Safety to obtain contracts to supply equipment and technology to these agencies.
Lukas is scheduled to be sentenced in April 2010 and faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. The criminal case against Nexus and the remaining individuals is pending and is scheduled for trial in March 2010.