Excessive Power for Junior Employees and Lavish Trips for Foreign Officials Lead to $28 Million PTC Settlement

PTC Inc., a Massachusetts-based software company, will pay more than $28 million to settle parallel civil and criminal FCPA charges. Like FLIR and SciClone, PTC’s corruption troubles stemmed from the provision of improper travel, gifts and entertainment to government officials. By inflating the fees paid to third parties for their services, junior employees of PTC’s China-based subsidiaries created pools of money that were then used to fund sightseeing adventures. Officials visited Honolulu, San Diego, New York and Las Vegas and enjoyed guided tours, golfing and other leisure activities. The SEC also announced its first DPA with an individual in an FCPA case, agreeing to defer prosecution against Yu Kai Yuan, a former employee of a PTC subsidiary, because of the significant cooperation he provided during the SEC investigation of the company. The voluntary disclosure calculus and how to handle relationships with lobbyists were among the key compliance concerns implicated in the PTC matter. See “CEO of LAN Airlines Settles FCPA Charges With SEC Over Union Dispute” (Feb. 10, 2016).

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