Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad Files Objection to Alcatel-Lucent, S.A.'s Criminal Settlement

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad ("ICE") announced today that it has filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida a Petition for Relief Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 3771(d)(3) and Objection to Plea Agreements and Deferred Prosecution Agreement in the criminal actions instituted by the Department of Justice ("DOJ") against Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. ("Alcatel-Lucent") and three of its subsidiaries.  The criminal action arises out of an international bribery and corruption scheme conducted by Alcatel-Lucent for decades.  One of the primary victims of this scheme was ICE, a Costa Rican entity that provides telecommunications and electrical power throughout Costa Rica.

Pursuant to the settlement between the DOJ and Alcatel-Lucent and its subsidiaries, three of the subsidiaries have filed plea agreements whereby they will plead guilty to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act under 18 U.S.C. section 371.  The parent company, Alcatel-Lucent, S.A., will not be found guilty of any criminal conduct, but will enter into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement pursuant to which Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. will pay fines totaling $92 million.  The settlement between the DOJ and Alcatel-Lucent does not involve the prosecution of any executives of the company, nor does it provide for restitution to the victims of the crimes charged in the two Informations filed in federal court.

ICE has asked the Honorable Marcia Cooke, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, to reject the plea agreements and the Deferred Prosecution Agreements (the "Agreements"), as the terms of the Agreements are exceptionally lenient in light of the severity of the crimes charged and force the entire penalty to be borne by the public shareholders of Alcatel-Lucent rather than the persons responsible for that conduct.  ICE also objects to the proposed Agreements because they have been submitted by Alcatel-Lucent and the DOJ in violation of the Crime Victims' Rights Act and the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act.  ICE has asked Judge Cooke to find that the company is a victim of the criminal conduct alleged by the DOJ, to order restitution as part of the sentence against Alcatel-Lucent and its subsidiaries, and to enter a sentence that is commensurate with and reflective of the severity of the criminal activities of Alcatel-Lucent and its subsidiaries.

ICE is represented in the matter by Wiand Guerra King P.L. of Tampa, Florida.  For further information regarding this matter, contact Burton W. Wiand at Wiand Guerra King P.L., 813.347.5100 or [email protected].

SOURCE Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad