The American Trap

187 Pages·2019·1.384 MB·English

by  Frédéric Pierucci

Former senior executive of Alstom in the Philippines, Frédéric Pierucci's life was turned upside-down on April 4th,
2013 when he was arrested by the FBI under the Foreign Corruption Practice Act that allows the arrest of anyone,
anywhere for suspicion of corruption.

Matthieu Aron is a journalist and former associate director of the Nouvel Observateur and former managing editor at
France Inter. He has followed Frederic Pierucci's story since the beginning.
The American Trap
Frédéric Pierucci
www.hodder.co.uk
First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Hodder & Stoughton
An Hachette UK company
Copyright © Frédéric Pierucci 2019
The right of Frédéric Pierucci to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Translated from the French by Deniz Gulan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
eBook ISBN 9781529326888
Hardback ISBN 9781529326864
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.hodder.co.uk
Dedicated to my wife and children
Contents
Note
Author’s note
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Epilogue
Afterword
Appendix 1: Monetary penalties inflicted on European banks by the United States
Appendix 2: How General Electric hushes up its corruption scandals
Appendix 3: A study of fines paid to US authorities under the FCPA (>$100m)
Appendix 4: The difference in treatment of Dow Jones 30 and CAC 40 companies for FCPA
violations
Acknowledgments
Out of respect for their privacy, the names of the members of Frédéric Pierucci’s family,
as well as those of his relatives and close friends, have been changed.
Author’s note
Alstom, as it once was, has ceased to exist. I thus wish to pay tribute to my former colleagues,
workers, engineers, technicians, sales staff and project managers, who strived for decades to
produce high-performance state-of-the-art products that were the envy of our rivals and helped
guarantee France’s energy independence.
Let there be no misunderstanding. Though this book highlights a series of disastrous decisions,
I still cherish the memories of the solidarity and team effort that shaped my daily existence for
twenty-two years.
Foreword
This book tells the story of what I discovered – through bitter experience – about how the United
States of America, in the guise of the global fight against corruption and terrorism, conducts its
underground economic warfare.
Over a period engulfing more than ten years, the United States has succeeded in destabilizing
the largest European multinationals. The American Department of Justice (DOJ) targets their
senior managers, incarcerates them if necessary and nets billions of dollars in fines by coercing
those companies to plead guilty.
Since 2008, thirty corporations have each paid out fines above $100 million to the American
Treasury. Sixteen of them are European (five are French, three are German, two are British) and
just seven are American.
European corporations will have shelled out a total of more than $6 billion, with American
corporations paying three times less. French corporations alone have already paid a total of
nearly $2 billion and six of their executives have been indicted by the American judiciary.
I am one of them.
I refuse to remain silent any longer.
This is my story, from my perspective, as I lived and experienced it.