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Guilty pleas in the United States arising from investigations into Rolls-Royce’s former Energy Division

8 November, 2017 | Case Updates

Three ex-employees of Rolls-Royce’s former Energy division, James Finley, Keith Barnett and Louis Zuurhout, have pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption offences in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division.

A further individual, Andreas Kohler, who worked for an international engineering consulting firm instructed by Rolls-Royce’s former customer in Kazakhstan has entered a guilty plea. Another individual, Petros Contoguris, who worked as an intermediary for Rolls-Royce has been indicted.

This followed parallel investigations by the US authorities and the UK’s SFO into corruption and failure to prevent bribery in relation to the sale of energy systems and related services.

The SFO provided significant assistance to the US authorities throughout the course of their investigation. The pleas and indictment arise from the US authorities’ investigation into Rolls-Royce’s former Energy division with James Finley, Keith Barnett and Louis Zuurhout’s pleas also covering conduct arising from the SFO’s investigation, including conduct which was addressed by the deferred prosecution agreement between the SFO and Rolls-Royce on 17 January 2017.

James Finley was a Vice President and Global Head of Sales of Rolls-Royce’s Energy Division.

Keith Barnett was a Regional Director of Rolls-Royce’s Energy Division.

Louis Zuurhout was a Sales Manager of Rolls-Royce’s Energy Division.

Andreas Kohler was a Director of an international engineering consulting firm which worked for Rolls-Royce’s former customer in Kazakhstan.

Petros Contoguris acted as an intermediary of Rolls-Royce in Kazakhstan.

Please see the following link to the United States Department of Justice’s press release.

The SFO’s investigation in respect of the conduct of individuals in Rolls-Royce Civil, Defence, Marine and former Energy Divisions continues. The SFO and DOJ continue to cooperate in their parallel investigations.

If you have information relevant to these investigations, please contact the SFO through its secure and confidential reporting channel.