NEW YORK — A judge sentenced Frederic Cilins, a 51-year old French citizen, to two years in prison for obstructing a federal criminal investigation into alleged bribes to obtain mining concessions in the Republic of Guinea.
“Frederic Cilins went to great lengths to thwart a Manhattan federal grand jury’s investigation into an alleged bribery scheme in the Republic of Guinea,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “In an effort to prevent the federal authorities from learning the truth, Cilins paid a witness for her silence and to destroy key documents. Today, Cilins learned that no one can manipulate justice.”
Cilins pleaded guilty on March 10, 2014 to a one-count superseding information charging him with obstruction of a federal investigation. In addition to his sentence, he was ordered to pay a fine of $75,000 and forfeit $20,000.
According to court documents, Cilins obstructed an ongoing federal investigation concerning potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other crimes.
Federal law enforcement was investigating whether a particular mining company with which Cilins was affiliated paid bribes to officials of a former governmental regime in the Republic of Guinea to obtain and retain valuable mining concessions in the Republic of Guinea’s Simandou region, court records indicate.
During monitored and recorded phone calls and face-to-face meetings, authorities said Cilins agreed to pay substantial sums of money to induce a witness to the alleged bribery scheme to leave the U.S. to avoid questioning by the FBI, as well as to give documents to Cilins for destruction that had been requested by the FBI as part of the investigation.
Cilins also sought to induce the witness to sign an affidavit containing false statements regarding matters under investigation by the grand jury. That witness was the former wife of a now-deceased Guinean government official who held an office in Guinea that allowed him to influence the award of mining concessions, officials said.
The case was investigated by the FBI.