/>iThe case is part of the division’s ongoing efforts to extradite and prosecute foreign executives.
On June 12, 2017, a former Israeli executive was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $41,170 in restitution and $7,500 as a criminal fine following his recent conviction for defrauding the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program administered by the US Department of Defense.
The foreign executive is the fifth to be extradited and prosecuted in the United States by the Antitrust Division (division) of the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The sentence is also the second longest in an extradition case prosecuted by the division to date, following the 63-month sentence imposed last year on a Canadian executive. (See Summary Table, Antitrust Division Extraditions Since 2010, below.)
Background
On January 21, 2016, an indictment was filed in the District of Connecticut under seal against Yuval Marshak, a former vice president of sales and marketing of an Israeli company and part owner and executive of another company. In July 2016, Marshak was arrested during his travel to Bulgaria and the charges were unsealed.
Marshak remained in custody in a Bulgaria prison pending his extradition proceedings. On October 14, 2016, he was extradited to the United States and was ordered to remain in custody. The division reported that it worked “closely” with the government of Israel on the international case.
On March 13, 2017, Marshak pled guilty to four counts: one count of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of major fraud against the United States. The charges were based on three separate schemes to defraud the foreign aid program. According to DOJ and court documents, “Marshak and others falsified bid documents to make it appear that certain FMF contracts had been competitively bid when they had not.” According to his plea agreement, the loss from the criminal conduct was approximately $358,027.
Division Focus on Extraditing Foreign Executives
In the five prior extraditions, Marshak is the second executive who was arrested based on an Interpol Red Notice while traveling abroad on charges that were filed under seal. Consequently, there was no public information that charges had been filed or that authorities were seeking his arrest.
In recent years, the division has concentrated its efforts on extraditing foreign executives to face charges in the United States. During the last three years, the division has extradited three foreign executives from Germany, Canada, and Bulgaria who were later convicted.
In following this issue closely, we have summarized the developments in each of the five extradition cases to date:
Antitrust Division Extraditions Since 2010
|
No. |
Name/ Citizenship |
Date/ Country of Extradition |
Charges Originally Filed |
Investigation |
Resolution |
Notes |
|
1 |
Ian P. Norris/ British citizen |
Mar. 23, 2010/United Kingdom |
Sept. 24, 2003, original counts filed; superseding charges filed Oct. 15, 2003 included four counts: (1) conspiring to fix prices for certain carbon products sold in the United States (Sherman Act); (2) conspiring to obstruct justice; (3) corruptly persuading and attempting to corruptly persuade other persons with intent to influence their testimony; and (4) corruptly persuading other persons to alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal documents with the intent to impair their availability for use in an official proceeding |
Carbon Graphite investigation |
Extradited from the UK to face prosecution on only Counts (2) through (4); July 27, 2010 trial conviction on one count of conspiring to obstruct justice; acquitted on remaining counts; sentenced to 18 months in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, and a $25,000 fine; conviction was affirmed on appeal |
Fought extradition for six-and-a-half years, contending that the charges were not covered under prior UK extradition law; conviction based on obstruction of justice charge and not Sherman Act charge |
|
2 |
David Porath/ Israeli and US citizen |
Feb. 16, 2012/ Israel |
Feb. 18, 2010, charged with (1) conspiring to rig bids, (2) conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and (3) filing a false tax return |
New York Presbyterian Hospital investigation concerning award of contracts |
July 11, 2012, pled guilty as charged; sentenced to time served (just under one year) and a one-year term of supervised release with three months of home confinement, and ordered to pay a $7,500 fine and $78,980 in restitution |
Extradition based on Sherman Act and other non-antitrust charges |
|
3 |
Romano Pisciotti/ Italian citizen |
April 3, 2014/ Germany |
Mar. 28, 2011, sealed indictment charging one count of rigging bids, fixing prices, and allocating market shares involving sales of marine hose; indictment unsealed by court order on Aug. 5, 2013 |
Marine Hose investigation |
Apr. 24, 2014, pled guilty to sole Sherman Act count; sentenced to 24 months in prison (including credit for nine months and 16 days held in custody during extradition proceedings in Germany) and a $50,000 fine |
Arrest warrant (under an Interpol Red Notice) based on sealed charges while traveling in Germany; described by the DOJ as “the first successfully litigated extradition on an antitrust charge” |
|
4 |
John Bennett/ Canadian citizen |
Nov. 14, 2014/ Canada |
Aug. 31, 2009, charged with two counts: (1) kickback and fraud conspiracy and (2) major fraud against the United States |
Federal Creosote Superfund site investigation |
Mar. 16, 2016, trial conviction on two counts for (1) committing major fraud against the United States and (2) conspiring to provide kickbacks and to commit major fraud; sentenced to 63 months in prison, two years of supervised release, a $12,500 fine, and $3.8 million in restitution |
Fought extradition for more than five years; trial conviction followed three-week jury trial |
|
5 |
Yuval Marshak/ Israeli citizen |
Oct. 14, 2016/ Bulgaria |
Jan. 21 2016, sealed indictment charging two counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of major fraud against the United States, and one count of international money laundering |
Foreign Military Financing program investigation |
Mar. 13, 2017, pled guilty to mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and major fraud against the United States; sentenced to 30 months in prison, a $7,500 fine, and $41,170 in restitution |
Arrest warrant (under an Interpol Red Notice) while traveling in Bulgaria |
