Appeals Court Dumps ICE Claim

The 11th Federal Court of Appeals in the United States has struck down the $400 million claim of the state-owned telecommunications company ICE against the French Alcatel-Lucent company.

The appeals court agreed with a lower court Federal Judge that ICE, far from being a victim, was an accomplice in the bribery case. (See previous stories.)

The case was prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The agreement hammered out between Alcatel and the U.S. Justice Department resulted in one of the largest fines ever levied against a company under the act.

Earlier, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), a Wall Street watchdog agency, had also reached an agreement on another fine against Alcatel.

During the hearing in Federal District Court, ICE attorneys attempted to portray ICE as a victim of the manipulations of a rapacious multinational company. But neither the prosecuting U.S. attorneys or the judge were having any of that argument.

In Costa Rica, a former President, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, and several members of the ICE board of directors were sentenced to jail time. Decision of an appeals court here is pending on the sentences, which include sizable fines. (See previous articles.)