Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Enforcement Action Dataset

Initiation Date: 11/24/2020

Prosecuting Agency: U.S. Department of Justice

Type of Action: DOJ Criminal Proceeding

Docket or Case Number: 20-cr-20241

Court: S.D. Florida

Name of Prosecuting Attorneys:

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney
Daniel S. Kahn, Acting Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
Alexander Kramer, Trial Attorney, Criminal Division
Michael S. Berger, Assistant United States Attorney
Adrienne E. Rosen, Assistant United States Attorney

US Assisting Agencies:

Internal Revenue Service
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Foreign Enforcement Action/Investigation: Unknown

Foreign Assistance: Unknown

Origin of the Proceeding: Unknown

Whistleblower: Unknown

Case Status: Ongoing

Summary

Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. ("PDVSA"), was the state-owned and state-controlled oil company of Venezuela. PDVSA and its subsidiaries and affiliates were responsible for the exploration, production, refining, transportation, and trade in energy resources in Venezuela and provided funding for other operations of the Venezuelan government.

Natalino D'Amato, a Venezuelan and Italian citizen, owned or controlled various companies that sold goods and services to PDVSA subsidiaries. Those companies included the following: Venezolana de Mecanizado C.A.; Alpha Energy de Venezuela C.A.; lndustria Techno Parts C.A.; lndustria Nacional de Goma C.A.; and Kronos Enterprises Corp.

According to the documents in this case, between January 2013 and December 2017, D’Amato conspired with others, including officials at joint ventures between PDVSA and various foreign companies in the oil-rich Orinoco belt of Venezuela, to launder the proceeds of an illegal bribery scheme to and from bank accounts located in South Florida. These joint ventures were majority owned and controlled by PDVSA. D’Amato allegedly offered and paid bribes to numerous Venezuelan officials who worked at the PDVSA joint ventures in order to obtain highly inflated and lucrative contracts to provide goods and services to the PDVSA joint ventures. In all, D'Amato's companies received approximately $160 million from the PDVSA joint ventures into accounts he controlled in South Florida.

On November 24, 2020, the DOJ filed an eleven count indictment in the Southern District of Florida against D'Amato alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering and direct money laundering violations.

This case is ongoing.

Protected Content

Please Log In or Sign Up for a free account to access restricted features of the Clearinghouse website, including the Advanced Search form and the full case pages.

When you sign up, you will have the option to save your search queries performed on the Advanced Search form.

| Enforcement Action Dataset

Enforcement Action Dataset

Case Information

United States of America v. Natalino D'Amato

Case Information

Protected Content