PENNSYLVANIA
A former coal company executive of a Western Pennsylvania coal company was charged with alleged kickbacks and bribery of Egyptian officials, according to federal officials.
Charles Hunter Hobson, 46, of Knoxville, allegedly bribed Egyptian officials to get $143 million in coal contracts with a state-own Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals, officials stated.
Hobson who worked at Corsa Coal Corporation is accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Hobson is the second former Corsa official to be charged in the scheme.
Frederick Cushmore of Connecticut, another vice president and head of international sales at Corsa, pleaded guilty in November, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The seven-count indictment alleges that Hobson engaged in the bribery and money laundering scheme between late 2016 and early 2020.
During part of that time, Hobson was the Vice President of Corsa Coal and was responsible for the company’s business relationship with Al Nasr.
Hobson and others, including Cushmore, allegedly paid bribes to Al Nasr officials in Egypt to obtain approximately $143 million in coal contracts for Corsa Coal.
The indictment alleges that Hobson and others did the following:
(1) Pay commissions to the sales intermediary, who passed on bribes to Al Nasr officials in exchange for the coal contracts.
(2) Transfer the corrupt commission payments from a bank account in the United States to a bank account in the United Arab Emirates.
The indictment also alleges that Hobson conspired to secretly receive a portion of the commissions paid to the sales intermediary as kickbacks.
Hobson facing a long prison sentence is convicted of the charges.