A former employee of Pfizer Inc., (NYSE: PFE), Frank Han, has filed a civil lawsuit claiming unfair dismissal following his raising of concerns about potential violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) within Pfizer’s China operations. Han, who served as Pfizer’s director of global compliance analytics, reported excessively high payments to “potentially influential government officials (PIGOs)” in China.
Details of the Alleged FCPA Violations
The civil case, filed with the US District Court of Northern California, reveals that Han discovered the potential FCPA violations while developing an algorithm to detect fraud across Pfizer’s global operations. This algorithm indicated that Pfizer spent over ten times more on PIGOs in China compared to other countries during the same period. Specifically, between Q2 2019 and Q3 2021, Pfizer allegedly spent $168 million on PIGOs in China, contrasted with $12 million in the US, $11 million in Canada, $7.5 million in Russia, and $7.1 million in the UK. Of the $168 million, $138 million was purportedly allocated to corporate sponsorships, compared to only $2 million in the US for the same time frame.
Alleged Lack of Investigation and Retaliation
Court documents state that Han claims no significant investigation was conducted into his allegations. Instead, his work performance assessments deteriorated, and he was told that his “Global Security analysis was not required or validated as useful.” Han’s employment was terminated in November 2022. Pfizer has not yet provided an official response to the lawsuit or the allegations raised.-Fineline Info & Tech
