Judge Grants Prosecutor’s Move to Drop Overseas Bribery Case (2)

A federal judge granted the Justice Department’s move to drop an overseas bribery prosecution against two former executives at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., making it the first case to be closed since President Donald Trump paused enforcement of a US anti-bribery law.

Judge Michael Farbiarz of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey gave his approval Thursday to the government’s motion in a one-page order.

The decision came a day after Alina Habba, a former Trump defense attorney serving as the interim chief federal prosecutor in New Jersey, submitted a motion to dismiss the case, citing a “recent assessment of the executive order’s application to this matter.”

Gordon Coburn and Steven Schwartz, former executives at the New Jersey-headquartered IT firm, were charged with approving a $2 million payoff to government officials in India to secure a construction permit for a new office building in the country.

They each pleaded not guilty and planned to fight the charges during a trial that was set to begin on April 7.

Trump’s February order seeking to ease enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act upended the case. In addition to temporarily pausing new matters, the order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review existing FCPA investigations and cases, and to craft new enforcement guidelines.

Habba said in Wednesday’s motion that the move came “after consultation with the Office of Attorney General.” She did not cite any specific reasons for the dismissal beyond it stemming from a review of Trump’s directive.

“We are grateful that we were able to convince DOJ of what we have long known: that this case never should have been brought,” James Loonam, a Jones Day lawyer representing Coburn, said in an email.

A spokesman for Schwartz said he is “pleased and relieved that this case is finally over. As we have maintained all along, he is innocent, and these charges should never have been brought.”

The prosecution of Coburn and Schwartz is one of a handful of FCPA cases that were in active litigation at the time of Trump’s executive order.

The Justice Department has noted that cases targeting alleged bribery of officials in countries including Egypt and Honduras are also now under review.