Och-Ziff hedge fund to pay $413 million over Africa bribery

Hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group will pay $413 million to settle charges it bribed officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya and other African countries, officials said on Thursday.

Och-Ziff paid bribes to officials to secure mining rights and to win investment from Libya in the company, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced.

The firm will pay nearly $200 million in disgorgement of profits and interest to the SEC, but neither admitted to nor denied the allegations.

The fund is also settling criminal charges with the US Justice Department in a parallel case for $213 million.

"Och-Ziff engaged in complicated, far-reaching schemes to get special access and secure significant deals and profits through corruption," Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's head of the enforcement, said in a statement.

Two executives, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Och and Chief Financial Officer Joel Frank, also agreed to settle civil charges brought by the SEC, which accused the men of ignoring red flags and permitting illegal transactions to proceed.

Under 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it is illegal for US companies and citizens to pay bribes to foreign officials to win business.