As per my other comment, on the face of it, it does seem illegal under laws in the US and UK such as the FCPA. Maybe someone could clarify though. To add some

As per my other comment, on the face of it, it does seem illegal under laws in the US and UK such as the FCPA. Maybe someone could clarify though. To add some more, there is an affirmative defense to the FCPA that it is ok to give gifts/payments that are lawful according to the written law of the country [1]. Libya has some laws against corruption but they are rarely enforced and may not have been in place at the time [2]. Anyway, it seems strange to me that this article is about a new legal theory of "undue influence" and a salesman being uniquely "too good" when the concept of bribery has been around for thousands of years. Maybe the article could have said something like, "Libya screwed itself over by not having anti-corruption laws, and therefore it's trying a different legal approach." [1] https://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/fcpa.pdf https://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/fcpa.pdf [2] https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/230900.pdf https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/230900.pdf