Nilsen Arias was the first witness questioned in the trial against Javier Aguilar, of Vitol, which is ongoing in New York. Arias admitted that he received bribes from about three companies, and that he met at least once a month with Jorge Glas.
Nilsen Arias, then manager of International Trade at Petroecuador, during an opening of offers in 2015.
The trial against trader Javier Aguilar, of the international trading company Vitol, in the United States, reveals new details about the corruption scheme related to the questioned pre-sales of oil and derivatives. Nilsen Arias, the former International Trade Manager of Petroecuador, was the first witness presented by US prosecutors in this process.
The trial began on January 5 in the Eastern District Court of New York, located in Brooklyn. Among the witnesses called by North American prosecutors are several Ecuadorians who have pleaded guilty and who collaborate with US justice. They seek that this collaboration means reduced sentences in their respective processes.
Until now, Nilsen Arias and Antonio Peré Ycaza have presented their testimonies. With their testimonies, prosecutors seek to prove that Aguilar is guilty of paying bribes to Arias and Xavier Rodríguez, former undersecretary of the Ministry of Hydrocarbons.
Aguilar’s defense, however, assures that the trader did not know that the payments made from Vitol were for bribes, but rather thought that it was a legal consultancy. The lawyers assure that Aguilar did not receive any extra payment for this business.
The testimony of Nilsen Arias
PRIMICIAS accessed the transcript of the first day of the trial against Aguilar, in which the interrogation of Nilsen Arias began. There, under oath, he gave many more details than were known about the corruption scheme he ran at Petroecuador.
Although the case focuses on the actions of Javier Aguilar, the interrogation of Arias was much broader and covered corruption at Petroecuador from various sources. Therefore, he gave new details about how the “commission” scheme worked in the state oil company.
Nilsen Arias confirmed that he was the International Trade Manager of Petroecuador between April 2010 and June 2017, in the government of Rafael Correa. He said that, as such, he worked in coordination with the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and that he had meetings “at least once a month” with the then Vice President Jorge Glas.
According to Arias, during his time in office, he received bribes from several companies he named: Vitol, Sargeant Marine, Gunvor and Trafigura. For this, he worked with the brothers Antonio and Enrique Peré Ycaza, who had a consulting firm that served as a ‘bribe launderer ‘.
When asked by prosecutors, Arias said that he had two aliases: “el Gordo” and “el Jugo”. And he said that in his business, they didn’t talk about kickbacks or bribes, but about ” commissions.”
The interrogation focused above all on the business with Vitol, a Swiss company trading in oil and its derivatives. The case focuses on a fuel oil pre-sale contract between Petroecuador and Oman Trading.
Arias’ testimony, however, confirmed that Oman Trading was just a facade, since the negotiation really was always with Vitol. Arias admitted having met on at least one occasion with Javier Aguilar, who was looking for a way to do business with Ecuador, but could not because Vitol was on Petroecuador’s “blacklist.”
Searching the facades
Nilsen Arias said that in 2015 he spoke with Xavier Rodríguez because he was interested in Vitol getting new business with Petroecuador. At that time, Rodríguez worked in the Ministry of Hydrocarbons.
Both of them agreed that the only way for Vitol to continue doing this type of business is to get a state company as a front. This would also allow them to be awarded directly and not through a competition. For this reason, they began to work on a contract that would be closed with Pemex, the Mexican state company, for the import of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).
According to Arias, Mexico does not produce enough gas to export. Therefore, Pemex would be just the facade, and Vitol would supply the gas for export to Ecuador. Arias and Rodríguez agreed on the “commissions.”
Then, “El Gordo” asked Rodríguez to meet with Antonio Peré to organize the commission payments. He did so because he did not want to discuss these issues personally, as it was “risky. “
Only then, when everything was square, Arias began working with Vitol and Pemex on the draft of a contract for the purchase of LPG as a loan for USD 500 million.
This contract, apparently, never came to fruition.
The accusation against Javier Aguilar
Aguilar faces two charges: conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He pleaded not guilty and faces trial before a citizen jury.
Aguilar is accused of having paid almost USD 1 million in bribes to Ecuadorian and Mexican officials to secure business for Vitol. This case is directly linked to those of Nilsen Arias, the Peré Ycaza brothers and the Dutchman Lionel Hanst, who may possibly appear as witnesses at the trial.
Part of the evidence that prosecutors announced they will use in the case against Aguilar are recordings that the Peré Ycazas made of these businesses and payments, in calls and meetings. While Nilsen Arias handed over a diary in which he wrote down the details of all his meetings.
Arias’ testimony was extended until this Thursday, January 11. That day, the interrogation of Antonio Peré began.
