WASHINGTON—The former owner and President of Chestnut Consulting Group Inc. and Chestnut Consulting Group Co. was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury for his alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to a foreign official and money laundering.
Dmitrij Harder, 42, of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, the former owner and president of the Chestnut Group, was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and Travel Act, five counts of violating the FCPA, five counts of violating the Travel Act, one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and two counts of money laundering.
“We are committed to combating foreign corruption, across the globe and across all industries, through enforcement actions and prosecutions of companies and the individuals who run those companies,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell. “As alleged, in this case, the owner and chief executive of a Pennsylvania financial consulting firm secured hundreds of millions of dollars in business by bribing a European banking official.”
“We will aggressively investigate and prosecute individuals in our district who use corrupt means like bribery to influence foreign officials,” said U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger.
Adding, “The alleged conduct here was particularly reprehensible because it undermined the legitimacy of a process designed to support businesses for the citizens of developing nations.”
According to allegations in the indictment, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was a multilateral development bank headquartered in London, England, and was owned by over 60 sovereign nations.
Among other things, the European Bank provided financing for development projects in emerging economies, primarily in Eastern Europe, the indictment stated.
Harder and others paid bribes for the benefit of a senior official at the European Bank in exchange for influencing the official’s actions on applications for financing submitted by the Chestnut Group’s clients and for directing business to the Chestnut Group.
The European Bank ultimately approved applications for financing from two of the Chestnut Group’s corporate clients; the first resulted in the European Bank providing an $85 million investment and a 90 million Euro loan, while the second resulted in a $40 million investment and a $60 million convertible loan.
The Chestnut Group allegedly earned approximately $8 million in “success fees” as a result of the European Bank’s approval of these two applications.
The indictment alleges that Harder made five payments totaling more than $3.5 million to the sister of the European Bank official, in part as an effort to conceal the bribes.
These payments were allegedly made for purported consulting and other services provided to the Chestnut Group by the official’s sister, when in fact she provided no such services.
Harder also allegedly participated in creating fake documents to justify these payments.
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.