A former Corsa Coal vice president has been convicted for participating in a multi-year bribery and money laundering scheme tied to nearly $140 million in coal contracts with an Egyptian state-controlled company.
A federal jury found Charles Hunter Hobson guilty for arranging payments to Egyptian government officials to secure business for Corsa Coal Corporation. The case centers on sales for Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals and alleges a pattern of corrupt commissions, kickbacks, and layered bank transfers. Prosecutors say the scheme ran from 2016 through 2020 and relied on intermediaries and offshore accounts to hide the illicit payments.
Evidence presented at trial shows Hobson used his role in international sales to funnel bribery through an intermediary in Egypt who was paid more than $4.8 million in purported commissions. That intermediary then moved funds to pay officials and also routed over $200,000 back to Hobson as kickbacks. U.S. and United Arab Emirates accounts were used in the laundering chain, according to the court record.
“Charles Hunter Hobson won business for his company by paying bribes — and he even took a cut for himself,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Businessmen and companies that pay bribes to foreign government officials to win contracts undermine the rule of law and distort competition, which hurts American business interests worldwide. The Criminal Division will continue its commitment to vindicating our national interests by combating foreign corruption in violation of U.S. law.”
The jury convicted Hobson on multiple counts, including conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, substantive FCPA violations, conspiracy to commit money laundering, two counts of money laundering, and a conspiracy to commit wire fraud count. Each FCPA count carries a maximum of five years in prison, while the money laundering and related conspiracy counts carry higher potential penalties, up to 20 years on certain counts. Sentencing will be set by a federal judge after consideration of the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors.
“Bribing officials of foreign governments to obtain business, and then laundering that money, is illegal, corrupts the global marketplace, and disadvantages law-abiding U.S. companies,” said U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “Along with our law enforcement colleagues at the FBI and other agencies, we will continue to investigate and bring to justice defendants such as Charles Hobson who seek to enrich themselves while engaging in flagrant, fraudulent conduct.”
Investigators say the scheme displaced honest competitors and distorted the bidding environment for international coal sales, harming firms that played by the rules. The prosecution argued that payments labeled as commissions were, in truth, bribes paid to a group Hobson nicknamed “the Team,” and that the contracts won on that basis generated the nearly $140 million figure cited by the government. Testimony and bank records tied the flow of funds to the intermediaries and back to the accused.
“Hobson used his leadership position at Corsa to bribe Egyptian government officials and secure millions of dollars in sales contracts for the company,” said Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Through this bribery scheme, he violated American and Egyptian laws and robbed law-abiding coal companies of the chance to compete for profits. His conviction is the latest result of the FBI’s work to investigate individuals who resort to corrupt practices to increase international business.”
Another former Corsa executive, Frederick Cushmore Jr., previously pleaded guilty for his part in the scheme and is awaiting sentencing. The Justice Department resolved its corporate investigation into Corsa in March 2023 with a declination tied to a disgorgement of profits under the Criminal Division’s enforcement policy. That resolution and the individual prosecutions illustrate how corporate and personal accountability can run on separate tracks.
The FBI’s International Corruption Unit and the Washington Field Office led the inquiry alongside prosecutors. Trial work was handled by Criminal Division attorneys and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, with Trial Attorneys Natalie Kanerva and Ligia Markman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Stockey listed among the prosecutors. The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section continues to pursue FCPA and related foreign corruption matters to protect fair competition and American interests abroad.
