Global health science company Nordion Inc. will pay $357,000 to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The SEC charged that an engineer, Mikhail Gourevitch schemed to bribe Russian government officials and obtain drug approvals for his then-employer while secretly enriching himself.

The SEC also charged the company with lacking sufficient internal controls to detect and prevent the scheme.

An SEC investigation found that Mikhail Gourevitch arranged improper payments from Nordion to a third-party agent so that a portion of the funds could be used to bribe Russian officials to approve the distribution of a liver cancer treatment called TheraSphere.

Gourevitch provided false documentation to Nordion to conceal the scheme, and received $100,000 in kickbacks from the third-party agent.

Gourevitch, whose employment was terminated by Nordion, agreed to settle the charges by paying $100,000 in disgorgement, $12,950 in prejudgment interest, and a $66,000 penalty.

Nordion was represented by Robert Tarun and Peter Tomczak of Baker & McKenzie.

Gourevitch was represented by John Pappalardo and Eric Hayes of Greenberg Traurig.

Nordion, which traded on the New York Stock Exchange when the scheme occurred from 2004 to 2011, will pay a $375,000 penalty to settle charges that it lacked internal accounting controls and basic FCPA due diligence to prevent Gourevitch from conducting the scheme.

The SEC said that it considered the company’s significant cooperation, self-reporting and remedial acts when determining a settlement.

The SEC said that once Nordion discovered evidence of misconduct by Gourevitch, the company self-reported to the SEC, cooperated extensively with the investigation, and took immediate steps to remedy the problems.

Nordion was ultimately unable to distribute TheraSphere in Russia and thus earned no profits from the scheme.

Nordion and Gourevitch consented to SEC orders without admitting or denying the findings that Nordion violated the books-and-records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 while Gourevitch violated the anti-bribery, books-and-records, and false records provisions.