The Investor Who Looked Away

A wealthy American businessman put about seven million dollars into a friend's venture to buy a foreign government's state oil company. The venture paid huge 'entry fees' and promised most of its profits to that country's top officials. The businessman flew to the country, met officials, recruited other investors, and sat on advisory boards set up to shield Americans from bribery liability. He later told FBI agents he knew nothing of any bribes. He says he was a victim of fraud, not a briber. The law requires proof he knew of the bribes, or deliberately avoided knowing.