Does This Man Look Like a Felon to You?

Standing in his Miami condo, Joseph Sigelman eyed his attorney warily. The two had worked together for eight years, and they considered themselves good friends. But there was something off about this meeting. The lawyer, Gregory Weisman, had called Sigelman two days earlier to say that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation had turned up unannounced at his New Jersey home. The FBI questioned Weisman about payments allegedly made by Sigelman’s former oilfield services company in Bogotá to a Colombian government official—payments that appeared to be related to securing a valuable contract. The Bureau had e-mails and bank transfers, and said the Americans had broken U.S. law. They said it was bribery.

Weisman told Sigelman he’d professed ignorance to the FBI but that the agents didn’t seem satisfied. Weisman asked to fly down to meet Sigelman at his home. He arrived on Dec. 15, 2012.