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PA TWO MEN INDICTED IN BRIBERY CASE

Release Date: 04/24/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1998

TWO MEN INDICTED IN BRIBERY CASE

On April 17, David H. Mead of The Woodlands, Texas, and Frerik Pluimers of Rotterdam, Holland, were indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark on five charges including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Interstate Travel in Aid of a Racketeering Enterprise and Title 18 violations of aiding and abetting and conspiracy. Mead is the former president and chief executive officer of Saybolt Inc., a testing firm formerly headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. Pluimers is the former president of Saybolt North America Inc., and former chairman of the board of Saybolt Inc. Saybolt International B.V., is the parent company of the other two Saybolt entities. Saybolt International provides laboratory testing for commodities on a world-wide basis. The defendants are alleged to have plotted with others to pay a $50,000 bribe to a Panamanian government official. The bribe was allegedly paid on Dec. 20, 1995, for the purpose of acquiring concessions from the Panamanian Government including expedited tax benefits, and a prime business location along the Panama Canal. The allegations of bribery came to light during an investigation of alleged data falsification at Saybolt’s Wolburn, Mass., laboratory facilities. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.
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