Businessman Settles DOJ Foreign Bribery and Money Laundering Charges

An Ecuadorian businessman settled DOJ charges of bribing then-public officials of Ecuadorian state-owned oil company Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador.

In a plea agreement filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the businessman, who lives in Miami, confessed to conspiracy to "solicit, intermediate and pay bribes" on behalf of oil services companies with which he was associated. The businessman acknowledged that he used U.S. companies and bank accounts in order to facilitate the bribery. Additionally, the businessman admitted to conspiracy to launder funds through U.S.-based shell companies and bank accounts in order to obscure the bribery scheme.

In the resulting judgment, the businessman was (i) sentenced to 35 months in prison, with an additional three years of supervised release, and (ii) ordered to pay a $35,000 fine.