FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TUESDAY - February 9, 2010
FINES TOTALING $12.6 MILLION IMPOSED
ON SIRCHIE ACQUISITION COMPANY, LLC
NEW BERN - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court today SIRCHIE ACQUISITION COMPANY, LLC (SA) appeared before Chief United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan and acknowledged that it had entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the United States Attorney’s Office. After reviewing the DPA and questioning the Government, the Court approved the Agreement. The DPA resulted from criminal conduct in the form of repeated violations of a published Order issued by the Department of Commerce (DOC) barring the President/CEO/majority stockholder of SA’s corporate predecessor, Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories, Inc. (Sirchie), from any participation in regulated overseas commerce for a period of five years. Evidence had come to light during the course of a search on January 30, 2008, that the President/CEO/majority stockholder had, in violation of the DOC Order, repeatedly participated in the setting of prices of Sirchie products intended for overseas sales. SA had completed its purchase of Sirchie approximately two weeks earlier. While all of the criminal conduct had occurred prior to SA’s purchase of Sirchie, SA acknowledged its responsibility as a successor-in-interest. A parallel civil settlement initiated by the DOC was also entered on the record.
The DPA calls for SA to be subject to terms of the DPA for a period of 36 months. During this period it is obligated to continue its extensive efforts to assure future compliance with trade regulation, to waive the statute of limitations until it successfully completes the DPA period, to continue to cooperate with the Government and to pay a combination of criminal and civil fines totaling $12.6 million. The Agreement permits SA a credit against the fine total for moneys expended on its compliance program up to a total of $1.5 million. Attached to the DPA is a schedule for payment of the fines, a detailed Criminal Information which will be held in abeyance, a detailed statement of the facts which triggered the DPA and a copy of the civil settlement.
This matter was investigated by the DOC. Assistant United States Attorney John S. Bowler represented the government.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.
