Texas Court Tosses FCPA Charges Against Portuguese Banker After US Trial Delays
A Texas court dismissed charges related to a U.S. foreign bribery investigation involving Portuguese banker Paulo Jorge Da Costa Casequeiro Murta, ruling the U.S. violated the Speedy Trial Act by failing to bring Murta to trial within the 70-day limit set in the statute (United States v. Paulo Jorge Da Costa Casqueiro Murta, S.D. Tex. #4:17-00514).
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Judge Kenneth Hoyt in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed the case with prejudice after finding there was "damage" to Murta's "long-term health due to inadequate medical care while incarcerated" in the U.S., among other factors. Hoyt also said the "underlying facts of the case, the impact of a re-prosecution on the administration of justice under the STA and the proper display of the administration of justice, weigh in favor of dismissal with prejudice."
In the case, the U.S. charged Murta with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a scheme involving Petroleos de Venezuela, the country's state-owned energy company. Murta was arrested in Portugal in May 2019 and eventually extradited to the U.S. in July 2021. In the Texas court, Murta "expressed concern about a speedy trial," noting that he had been in continuous custody since his arrest in June 2021 in Portugal and "that the 70-day speedy trial period had nearly expired." Prior to Murta's hearing, though, the government sought to hit the "pause button" after telling the court that it found out about classified information held by a government agency that was potentially discoverable. However, the U.S. refused to tell the court which agency had the information or about the nature of the information.
Hoyt found that this delay, which led to the violation of the Speedy Trial Act, was evidence of the U.S. acting in bad faith. "The facts establishes that the government sought a delay based on irrelevant classified information that it had access to for an undetermined number of months prior to December 2021," the opinion said, also calling into question the timing of the government's "intentional and protracted delays." The judge said that the U.S. "failed to offer persuasive evidence or arguments that justify its lack of diligence in timely revealing that it was in possession of classified information, which delay is an act of bad faith that cannot be excused based on negligence or inadvertence."