Our White-Collar Capabilities – Bondoc & Asociatii

Our White-Collar Capabilities

Our white-collar/ compliance practice has been highly active. We are constantly involved in internal audits and investigations, advising clients on the requests for information from prosecutors, police, tax and other authorities or assisting or representing clients in various proceedings. We also collaborate with niche criminal law lawyers and private investigators on various matters.

We are also regularly involved in M&A and tender procedures in due diligence analyses of individuals and legal persons from an ethics & anti-corruption perspective.

“Bondoc si Asociatii SCA is a solid choice for advice on internal audits and investigations, and regularly assists major corporates with compliance and training exercises. The team has a good litigation arm and assists clients on civil fraud claims and related administrative and tax proceedings. Managing partner Lucian Bondoc is highly experienced in sensitive litigation and criminal and administrative investigations. Disputes partner Viorel Dinu is also very active in this area”. [Legal 500, 2021]

Our team has been involved in numerous sensitive cases triggering or relating to white-collar aspects, covering a broad range of industries, which in the recent past have included assistance to:

■	a large company in the electro-IT distribution market in Romania in connection with criminal investigations into tax and commercial relationships with other companies, as well as relationships with various authorities, internal investigations and analyses, assistance on compliance issues, including removal of the freezing of accounts imposed by prosecutors.
■	the European Parliament in connection with the claim attached to the criminal investigation by the Romanian Anticorruption Directorate of a former Parliament member into the alleged funds embezzlement and official misconduct in the use of the EU Parliament allowances.
■	a large car manufacturer in relation to an investigation performed by the national relevant regulatory authority and criminal investigation bodies in connection with deceit devices (diesel-gate).
■	the local affiliates of major pharma companies and drug distribution companies in connection with compliance matters, various whistleblower-related internal investigations, integrity due diligence of third parties, interactions with authorities, interactions with healthcare professionals, internal analyses, internal ethics training sessions.
■	a tank shipping company providing miscellaneous water transportation services, for the recovery of embezzled funds, as well as for the filing of a civil action in criminal proceedings in relation to such fraud.
■	the audit division of a large European oil, gas and chemical product company in connection with various compliance matters related to Romania.
■	a significant shareholder of a company traded on the AIM market in the UK with important assets in Romania in connection with the DNA proceeding concerning one of the directors of the company in question.
■	a large Ukraine commercial bank on criminal law implications resulting from granting loans and obtaining security interests over the assets of a former subsidiary.

■	a company active in the energy field in connection with the litigation involving criminal forgery and fraud allegations.
■	a pharma company in connection with a dawn raid by DNA and related aspects and several other life sciences companies in connection with the DNA inquiry into the oncology, hematology and other areas and related aspects.
■	a large company in the agriculture sector in connection with an internal investigation over potential European funds frauds.
■	a large medical services company on compliance and ethics matters, and in connection with the inquiries conducted by various authorities and the strategy to approach whistleblower originated information and follow-up procedures.
■	numerous companies from various sectors (e.g., automotive, healthcare, food manufacturing, social media/ information society services etc.) in addressing requests for information or documents from public authorities, including criminal investigation bodies and courts, in proceedings where our clients are directly involved or as third-parties.
■	a large global technology company in the automotive industry in connection with compliance matters, including internal investigations, private detectives’ coordination, complaints against theft by employees etc.
■	one of the largest AIF funds in connection with the legal obligations of publicly traded companies’ directors and exposure to various legal risks.
■	numerous companies in connection with allegations of ethics breaches by one or several employees, whistleblower tools, self-denunciation, ethics-related training sessions.
■	one of the largest supermarket chains in Romania, in drafting and submitting a criminal complaint for phishing actions perpetrated by hackers against the company.