Philadelphia Export Company and Employees Indicted for Paying Bribes to Foreign Officials

Philadelphia Export Company and Employees Indicted for Paying Bribes to
Foreign Officials

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four individuals were arrested
today on charges that they and their company, Nexus Technologies Inc., paid
bribes to various Vietnamese government officials in exchange for lucrative
contracts to supply equipment and technology to Vietnamese government
agencies, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Acting
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich and Acting U.S. Attorney Laurie
Magid for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced.

U.S. citizens Nam Nguyen, 52, of Houston, Joseph Lukas, 59, of Smithville,
N.J., Kim Nguyen, 39, of Philadelphia, and An Nguyen, 32, of Philadelphia were
arrested today after they, along with Nexus Technologies Inc., were indicted
on Sept. 4, 2008, by a federal grand jury in Philadelphia on one count of
conspiracy to bribe Vietnamese public officials in violation of the FCPA and
four substantive counts of violating the FCPA.

According to the indictment, Nexus Technologies Inc. was a Delaware company
with offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Vietnam that purchased a wide
variety of equipment and technology, including underwater mapping equipment,
bomb containment equipment, helicopter parts, chemical detectors, satellite
communication parts and air tracking systems, for export to agencies of the
government of Vietnam. The indictment alleges that from approximately 1999
through 2008, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to pay Vietnamese
government officials bribes in order to secure lucrative contracts for Nexus
Technologies Inc. Over the course of the scheme, the defendants are alleged
to have paid at least $150,000 in bribes to foreign officials in Vietnam. The
defendants' customers in Vietnam are alleged to have included multiple
Vietnamese government agencies, including the commercial branches of Vietnam's
Ministries of Transport, Industry and Public Safety.

According to the indictment, Nam Nguyen allegedly negotiated contracts and
bribes with officials of Vietnamese government agencies, while Lukas
negotiated with vendors in the United States. Kim and An Nguyen allegedly
arranged for the transfer of funds at Nam Nguyen's direction.

The conspiracy count charged against the individual defendants carries a
maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of the greater of $250,000 or
twice the gain; and a three year term of supervised release. The FCPA counts
charged against the individual defendants each carry a maximum penalty of five
years in prison, a fine of the greater of $100,000 or twice the gain; and a
three year term of supervised release. Nexus Technologies Inc., faces a
maximum $2 million fine per count, if convicted.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier
Williams and Trial Attorney Kathleen M. Hamann of the Criminal Division's
Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department
of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement.

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent
until and unless proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

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