Yes, bribing foreign officials is illegal. The husband and wife producer team gave the Thai tourism authority $1.8 million in bribes to secure contracts for a local film festival there. Can they at least make a movie out of this?
By Ben Fritz
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGLES –– Hollywood may be in for tighter government scrutiny of its overseas operations.
Producers Gerald and Patricia Green were found guilty late Friday on charges of bribery and money laundering related to their running of a local film festival in Thailand, a decision that experts say could lead to further investigation into the huge amounts of business film studios do overseas.
The two were convicted of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, eight counts of violating the act and seven counts of money laundering. In addition, Patricia Green was found guilty on two counts of falsifying U.S. tax returns related to the bribes.
