The United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office provides an index of publicly listed enforcement actions, including matters related to foreign bribery. Access brief overviews of bribery-related cases that include the nature of the investigation, date of the investigation announcement, status of the case and associated case press releases. Cases are classified under criminal investigations, proceeds of crime, and deferred prosecution agreements.

In 2019 the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom (UK) entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with a small UK resources sector company concerning bribery in South Korea. Guralp Systems Limited is a company in the United Kingdom that manufactures seismometers, or seismic monitoring instruments. The company was required to disgorge its profits from the bribery but did not receive a penalty because of its small size and the fact that it had thoroughly investigated and self-reported the issues. Cansun Güralp, Andrew Bell and Natalie Pearce were acquitted of conspiracy to make corrupt payments in relation to payments made to a South Korean public official between 2002 and 2015.

The conclusion of the trial removes reporting restrictions on the Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached by the SFO and Güralp Systems Ltd, which was agreed in October 2019. Güralp Systems Ltd accept the charges of conspiracy to make corrupt payments and a failure to prevent bribery by employees in relation to the payments made between 2002 and 2015.

As a result of this DPA, Güralp Systems Ltd has agreed to pay a total of £2,069,861 for disgorgement of gross profits to the SFO for onward transmission to the Consolidated Fund. The DPA also requires Güralp Systems Ltd to cooperate fully and truthfully with the SFO and to review and maintain its existing internal controls, policies, and procedures regarding compliance with the Bribery Act 2010.

Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Lisa Osofsky, said: “The Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Güralp Systems Ltd ensures that the company will pay the price for the wrongdoing that occurred under its roof. The DPA is a result of Güralp Systems Ltd’s timely self-reporting and full cooperation, and holds the company to account whilst also promoting positive changes in corporate culture.”

Güralp Systems Ltd appointed a new Executive Chairman in December 2014, who identified wrongdoing and ordered an internal investigation. Following this internal investigation, Güralp Systems Ltd self-reported to both the SFO and the US Department of Justice on 23 October 2015. The SFO commenced its own independent and comprehensive investigation on 3 December 2015.

What is a Deferred Prosecution Agreement?

A Deferred Prosecution Agreement (hereinafter DPA) is an agreement between a corporation and government where the latter brings charges against the former, however, agrees not to move ahead with the charges. In return for not going forward with the charges, the corporations agree to certain terms and conditions. If the corporations fail to comply with the conditions set in the agreement, then the government can prosecute them. But if they comply with the conditions, then the government drops the charges. It is crucial to note at the outset that a DPA is fundamentally different from a sentence of probation. In a sentence of probation an individual is convicted, and compliance is ensured by the court. In DPA, there is no conviction by the court. It is an out-of-court settlement and the compliance with the terms and conditions is not overseen by the court.

Business of breaching a DPA

On 21 November 2024, the Serious Fraud Office  has announced a potential breach of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Güralp Systems Ltd, which was finalised on 22 October 2019. The DPA, in which the company accepted charges of conspiracy to make corrupt payments and failure to prevent bribery, involved a payment of £2,069,861. On 21 November 2024, the SFO informed the court of the suspected breach and requested a hearing at Southwark Crown Court (sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice) to take the matter forward. This development follows the conclusion of a related trial at Southwark Crown Court, where Dr Cansun Güralp, and Natalie Pearce were found not guilty on 20 December 2019, with Andrew Bell having been acquitted two days earlier.