Frank Roberto Chatburn Ripalda was a dual U.S. and Ecuadorian citizen who resided in Florida.
Jose Larrea was a U.S. citizen who also resided in Florida.
Empresa Publica de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador, better known as PetroEcuador, was the state-owned oil company of Ecuador.
GalileoEnergy S.A. ("Galileo'') was an Ecuadorian company that provided services in the oil and gas industry, including to PetroEcuador.
Denfield lnvestments lnc. ("Denfield") was a Panamanian shell company that Ripalda helped to procure in about 2012 for the purpose of receiving profits for the beneficial owner of Galileo.
According to the allegations in the indictment, starting in about 2013 and going through about 2015, Ripalda and his co-conspirators made corrupt payments to PetroEcuador in order to obtain and retain contracts for Galileo. In all, Ripalda and his alleged co-conspirators facilitated bribe payments to PetroEcuador officials totaling approximately $3,270,980, which secured contracts for Galileo worth approximately $27.8 million. These bribes were made through Denfield and an unnamed intermediary company organized in the British Virgin Islands as an escrow agent. Larrea is alleged to have conspired with Ripalda to launder the money connected with the bribery allegations.
On April 20, 2018, the DOJ filed a five count indictment in the Southern District of Florida against Ripalda and Larrea alleging (1) conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, (2) conspiracy to commit money laundering, (3) direct violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, and (4-5) money laundering. Ripalda was charged on all five counts, and Larrea was charged solely on the money laundering conspiracy count.
On September 11, 2018, Larrea entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the agreement, Larrea pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money and agreed to forfeit $53,780.70. The court ordered the forfeiture on November 14, 2018, and on November 30, Larrea was sentenced to 27 months in prison to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. The court further ordered Larrea to pay a mandatory special assessment of $100.
On October 11, 2019, Ripalda entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the agreement, Ripalda pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money and agreed to forfeit $870,924.20. On December 12, 2019, the court sentenced Ripalda to 42 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. The court further ordered Ripalda to pay a fine of $40,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $100. On August 17, 2020, the court entered a preliminary forfeiture order against Ripalda in the amount of $870,924.20.
On April 25, 2022, the DOJ moved the court to reduce Ripalda's sentence by 25 percent based on his "substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of related matters." On May 6, 2022, the court granted the motion and amended the judgment, sentencing Ripalda to time served in prison. He had served just over two years in prison by that point.
