BIT Mining agreed to pay $10 million to settle bribery allegations involving Japanese officials for a resort license, admitting to FCPA violations.
BIT Mining consented to pay $10 million in penalties in connection with allegations of bribery committed by Japanese government officials in order to obtain a resort license in a settlement with US authorities.
BIT Mining Bribery Case
The company, which is involved in the Bitcoin mining industry, acknowledged that it had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by conspiring to pay bribes and falsifying records.
BIT Mining executed a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the SEC and the US Justice Department as part of the resolution. Additionally, the former CEO, Zhengming Pan, is facing indictment on a variety of offenses, including conspiracy and violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.
The official press release disclosed that between 2017 and 2019, the then-CEO of BIT Mining and other employees provided Japanese officials with approximately $1.9 million in bribes, including cash, travel, entertainment, and gifts, through intermediaries.
The objective was to secure a proposal for an integrated resort in Japan. Pan employed third-party consultants to facilitate and conceal the bribes, which were disguised as legitimate business expenditures such as management advisory fees. The company ultimately lost the proposal for the resort project, despite these efforts.
Philip R. Sellinger, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, issued a statement in which he stated,
“Paying bribes to foreign government officials is a serious crime. The top leadership of BIT Mining, then known as 500.com, directed consultants to pay bribes to Japanese government officials to win a bid to open a large resort in Japan. The illegal scheme started at the top, with the company’s CEO allegedly fully involved in directing the illicit payments and the subsequent efforts to conceal them.”
BIT Mining had initially committed to pay a $54 million criminal penalty in accordance with the country’s sentencing guidelines as part of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). Nevertheless, the company and the Justice Department reached an agreement to reduce the penalty to $10 million as a result of the company’s financial difficulties.
Furthermore, BIT Mining will be eligible for a credit of up to $4 million against the civil penalty it has committed to pay to the SEC as part of a separate investigation.
