The recent decision by a federal district court judge in Connecticut to acquit former Alstom employee Lawrence Hoskins, a British citizen accused of violating the Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA), adds a bit of illumination to the relatively slim catalog of FCPA caselaw.
Although a jury had found back in November that Hoskins was guilty of the FCPA charges as well as money laundering and conspiracy charges, how exactly FCPA jurisdiction extended to him—given that Hoskins, of the United Kingdom, worked for French power and transportation company Alstom and was allegedly involved in inappropriate behavior concerning a power plant in Indonesia—was a matter of some disagreement. The federal district court’s decision overturning the FCPA convictions may, at least for a moment, have emboldened critics of alleged federal government overreach.
