Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, both citizens of Panama and Italy, were brothers who were close relatives of a high-ranking Panamanian government official.
Odebrecht S.A. was a Brazilian conglomerate that conducted business in a variety of industries and operated in at least 27 other countries. Odebrecht pled guilty in 2016 to engaging in a wide-ranging bribery scheme from 2001 to 2016 in which the company paid over $700 million in bribes in numerous countries.
According to the documents in this case, between August 2009 and July 2014, the Linares brothers, together with others, participated in the Odebrecht bribery scheme by serving as intermediaries for corrupt payments to the Panamanian official. The Linares brothers established offshore bank accounts in the names of offshore shell companies to receive and disguise bribe payments from Odebrecht made for the benefit of the official. Between 2009 and 2012, the shell company bank accounts received approximately $28 million in bribe proceeds from Odebrecht for the benefit of the official.
On June 27, 2020, the DOJ filed a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York against the Linares brothers alleging a conspiracy to commit money laundering. The DOJ later announced the case on July 6, 2020, concurrent with the filing of an amended complaint. On February 4, 2021, the DOJ filed a five count indictment in the case, which added direct money laundering charges.
In a press releases issued on December 2 and December 14, 2021, the DOJ announced that Luis and Ricardo, respectively, had plead guilty.
On May 20, 2022, the court sentenced both Luis and Ricardo to 3 years in prison to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. Both brothers were credited for time served in Guatemalan and U.S. jails prior to sentencing. The court further ordered each brother to pay a fine of $250,000 plus a mandatory assessment of $100 and each to forfeit $18,892,532. In its sentencing memorada, the DOJ requested the court to sentence each brother to a term in prison within the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of 108 to 135 months.
