(Reuters) - Several large settlements with corporations made last year the most lucrative for federal criminal anti-corruption efforts since the U.S. Justice Department began tracking statistics in 2015, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The Justice Department's Fraud Section handles criminal enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. companies and stock issuers from bribing overseas officials. In 2020, its FCPA settlements with corporations, including massive deals with Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Airbus SE, totaled $2.33 billion in U.S. criminal penalties and monetary recovery, which was the highest amount in the six years the Fraud Section's annual reports have been issued.

The Fraud Section also said in its report that cooperation with its international counterparts had resulted in global corporate settlements worth a total of $8.9 billion, which was also the highest since it began keeping track in 2016. Those settlements included $7.8 billion in bribery-related actions and $1.1 billion related to other major frauds.

A major factor was Goldman Sachs' $2.9 billion settlement with authorities in multiple countries over the 1MDB corruption scandal in October, which required the bank to pay the Justice Department $1.3 billion in the largest FCPA settlement to date.

Last January also saw French aerospace firm Airbus SE's $3.9 billion settlement with authorities in France, the U.S. and the United Kingdom, which included criminal penalties worth $527.2 million.

The companies admitted responsibility in both cases, with Goldman's Malaysia subsidiary pleading guilty to conspiracy.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed partner and former FCPA prosecutor Laura Perkins said while the numbers were largely driven by the two large settlements, the report shows that the Fraud Section was able to settle a number of other matters and continue collaborating with foreign counterparts despite limitations prompted by COVID-19.

"In a year of pandemic, they were still able to move forward on a significant number of cases," Perkins said.