Brazil airline Gol to pay $41 million to resolve U.S., Brazil bribery probes

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Brazil airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA will pay more than $41 million to resolve parallel bribery investigations by criminal and civil authorities in the United States and Brazil, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

Gol entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in connection with a criminal information filed in Maryland charging the company with conspiracy to violate anti-bribery legislation, the department said in a statement.

The company will pay a criminal penalty of $17 million, the Justice Department said. Gol also will pay about $24.5 million over two years as part of the resolution of a parallel investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the department added.

“Gol paid millions of dollars in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil in exchange for the passage of legislation that was beneficial to the airline,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Justice Department’s criminal division.

“The company entered into fraudulent contracts with third-party vendors for the purpose of generating and concealing the funds necessary to perpetrate this criminal conduct, and then falsely recorded the sham payments in their own books,” the official added.

Between 2012 and 2013, the company conspired to offer and pay about $3.8 million in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil, the Justice Department said, citing court documents.

The SEC said Gol should have paid over $87 million to settle criminal charges. However, due to the company’s financial condition and inability to pay the fines in full, the SEC and the Justice Department waived payment of all but $24.5 million and $17 million of Gol’s payment obligations, respectively, it said.

The company has agreed to improve its compliance program and cooperate in any ongoing or future probes, the Justice department added.

In late July, the company reported a steep second-quarter net loss mainly due to foreign exchange variations.

It also provided new forecasts for 2022 to reflect frequent jet fuel price increases and pass-through effects on fares, lowering its outlook for key metrics such as EBITDA margin and load factor, but increasing its revenue forecast.