Innospec's Jennings In U.K. Plea Deal

Reuters reported today that Paul Jennings, the former CEO of Innospec's U.K. operations, pleaded guilty to corruption charges in a London court.

'Jennings pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to corrupt in relation to bribes paid in both Indonesia and Iraq,'  Reuters said.

In January 2011, Jennings settled civil FCPA charges with the SEC. He agreed to disgorge $116,092 plus prejudgment interest of $12,945 and pay a civil penalty of $100,000. The DOJ didn't charge him with criminal violations.

The only individual from Innospec to face criminal charges in the United States was the company's former agent in Iraq, Ousama Naaman. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December last year to thirty months in federal prison and fined $250,000.

Naaman also agreed in 2010 to settle civil charges brought by the SEC. He disgorged $810,076 plus prejudgment interest of $67,030, and paid a civil penalty of $438,038.

Delaware-based specialty chemical maker Innospec resolved FCPA offenses in 2010. It reached a $40 million global settlement of more than a dozen criminal charges in the U.S. and U.K., including FCPA and U.N. oil for food program offenses, and violations of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. It paid fines of $27.5 million in the United States and $12.7 million in the U.K.

Reuters said two other former senior executives, Dennis Kerrison and Miltiades Papachristos, pleaded not guilty in a London court to one count of conspiracy to corrupt.

Another executive, David Turner, pleaded guilty in the U.K. earlier this year and is awaiting sentencing. Turner, a U.K. citizen, settled civil charges with the U.S. SEC in 2010. He disgorged $40,000 but wasn't required to pay any further civil penalty.