Through a statement, the United States Department of Justice announced that on Tuesday a federal jury from the Eastern District of New York issued an indictment against a member of a United States subsidiary of a multinational oil trading and distribution company for his alleged participation in a scheme to launder money and pay bribes to Ecuadorian officials.
In the United States, they accuse an oil subsidiary trader for alleged money laundering scheme
The citizen involved is Javier Aguilar, 46, Mexican and resident of the United States, who has been formally charged with two charges: conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
“As alleged in court documents, including the criminal complaint that was released today, between approximately 2015 and July 2020, Aguilar and others participated in a conspiracy to pay and hide bribes from Ecuadorian officials at the time, including the Public Company of Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (Petroecuador) in order to obtain and retain business for the commercial company, in particular, a contract of $ 300 million for the purchase of fuel oil that was awarded to a state-owned entity for the benefit of the company “, says the statement from the Department of Justice.
Aguilar and other co-conspirators would have concealed the profits and the bribery scheme through false consultancies between intermediaries and shell companies, which were used by the commercial company even knowing that they would be used to pay government officials.
“On July 5, 2018, Consultant 1, who resides in the United States, and Consultant 2, while in the United States, sent instructions to a bank to send approximately $ 225,000 from an account that belonged to them that was located in Cayman Islands through a correspondent bank, located in New York, to an account in Portugal for the benefit of the Ecuadorian official 1 ”, says the accusation document on one of the facts that they managed to identify.
The entity indicated that it would be approximately $ 870,000 that had been promised to officials as bribes in favor of the international company.
Currently the case is under investigation and it was clarified that Aguilar is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven. The names of those involved are with the authorities. (I)
