United States v. Kay
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
359 F.3d 738 (2004)
American Rice Inc. (ARI) exported rice to Haiti, and Kay (defendant), an ARI officer, was indicted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing Haitian customs officials to accept paperwork understating how much rice was actually imported, reducing ARI's taxes. Kay moved to dismiss, arguing payments made to cut taxes weren't payments to "obtain or retain business" as the FCPA requires. The district court agreed and dismissed the indictment; the government appealed, arguing the FCPA reaches payments that indirectly help obtain or retain business.
Whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act applies broadly to prohibit payments to foreign officials intended to directly or indirectly assist in obtaining or retaining business.