The three FCPA counts are based on three separate emails from Coburn to Schwartz and other co-conspirators between April 2014 and March 2015.

On February 14, 2019, the DOJ filed a twelve-count indictment against Coburn and Schwartz, alleging one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, three counts of violating the FCPA, seven counts regarding false books and records, and one count of violating internal controls.To further disguise payment, a member of Cognizant’s real estate group allegedly altered certain descriptions of work in the invoice, ensuring the construction company was paid the bribe without documenting the true purpose of the reimbursement. To conceal the bribes, Coburn, Schwartz, and several unnamed co-conspirators allegedly agreed to pay its construction company for what was to be deemed a cost overrun of the campus construction in invoices and change orders issued to Cognizant. The defendants allegedly authorized the payment of approximately $2 million to secure the permit.

According to the DOJ, the defendants further pressured the construction company to pay the bribes by offering reimbursements for those costs. The defendants, senior officials at Cognizant, allegedly threatened to withhold payments to the construction company until it had obtained all necessary permits. According to the indictment, Coburn and Schwartz paid bribes to unnamed government officials in India to secure a planning permit necessary for the construction of an office campus that would support approximately 17,000 Cognizant employees.Schwartz, a resident of Connecticut, was the former Chief Legal Officer for Cognizant. Coburn, a resident of Colorado, was the former president of Cognizant, a global information technology services provider, headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. Deposing the Defendant’s Medical Examiner in Personal Injury Cases, Preparing for and Conducting the Deposition, Leveraging Deposition Admissions at Settlement or Trial, Strafford, October 14, 2014, via Webinar.Case Law Update, Delaware Trial Lawyers Association, Annual Convention, June 2016, June 2017, June 2018, June 2019, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.Legal Ethics: Attorney Fees and Client Funds, National Business Institute, December 18, 2017, in Dover, Delaware, and December 20, 2017, in Wilmington, Delaware.Panel Discussion: Arms of the Court – Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, Delaware Supreme Court Pre-Admission Conference, November 16, 2018, November 17, 2017, Wilmington, Delaware.Traumatic Brain Injury Cases: Doctor and Attorney Perspectives, Ethical Considerations for Personal Injury Attorneys, National Business Institute, December 7, 2018, in New Castle, Delaware.Litigating Civil Cases from Start to Finish, National Business Institute, July 30, 2019, New Castle, Delaware.Personal Injury Litigation, Secrets and Insider Tips, National Business Institute, August 28, 2019, New Castle, Delaware.(less than 10% of practice is devoted to the following): Commercial truck and tractor-trailer accidents.(90% or more of Ben’s practice is devoted to the following): He is a 1993 graduate of Dover High School in Dover, Delaware.īen has been selected by his peers for recognition in publications such as Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers Magazine, and Delaware Today Top Lawyers.īen meets with clients in the firm’s Wilmington, DE, Dover, DE, Salisbury, MD, and Baltimore, MD offices. He is licensed to practice in Delaware, Maryland, and D.C.īen is the Chairman of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, an arm of the Delaware Supreme Court.īen graduated with his Juris Doctor Magna Cum Laude in 2001 from New York Law School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1997 from the University of Delaware. He also represents the accused in criminal cases and represents physicians and other medical treatment providers in licensing and other litigation matters.īen is the Managing Partner of Schwartz & Schwartz, Attorneys at Law, P.A., a law firm with offices in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. He frequently represents plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases. Ben Schwartz is an American jury trial lawyer.

Steven schwartz ldeq