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 | Enforcement Action Dataset

Stanford Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Clearinghouse a Collaboration with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Enforcement Action Dataset

 
United States of America v. Peter Weinzierl and Alexander Waldstein · Odebrecht and Braskem's Involvement in Multiple Countries from 2001 to 2016

Case Information

United States of America v. Peter Weinzierl and Alexander Waldstein

Related FCPA Matter:   Odebrecht and Braskem's Involvement in Multiple Countries from 2001 to 2016 Information

Case Information

Initiation Date:    09/18/2020  Information

Prosecuting Agency:    U.S. Department of Justice

Type of Action:    DOJ Criminal Proceeding

Docket or Case Number:    20-cr-00383

Court:    E.D. New York

Name of Prosecuting Attorneys:   

  • Seth D. DuCharme, Acting U.S. Attorney
  • Daniel S. Kahn, Acting Chief, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
  • Michael Culhane Harper, Trial Attorney, Fraud Section, Criminal Division
  • Michael B. Redmann, Trial Attorney, Money Laundering & Asset Recovery Section, Criminal Division
  • Julia Nestor, Assistant United States Attorney

US Assisting Agencies:   

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation

Foreign Enforcement Action/Investigation:    Unknown

Foreign Assistance:    Unknown

Origin of the Proceeding:    Unknown

Whistleblower:    Unknown

Case Status:    Ongoing


Summary  Information

Odebrecht S.A. was a Brazilian conglomerate that conducted business in multiple industries, including engineering, construction, infrastructure, energy, chemicals, utilities and real estate through its subsidiaries and companies in which it was a majority shareholder. Odebrecht operated in at least 27 other countries, including the United States.

Meinl Bank AG was an Austrian bank that provided corporate banking services, asset management and other banking and investment services. Meinl owned and controlled an unnamed subsidiary bank in Antigua and Barbuda.

Peter Weinzierl, an Austrian citizen, was the chief executive officer and a member of the managing board of Meinl and also served as a member of the board of directors of Meinl's Antiguan bank from 2010 to 2016.

Alexander Waldstein, an Austrian citizen, was an officer of Meinl until 2014 and also served as a member of the board of directors of Meinl's Antiguan bank from 2010 to 2013.

According to the documents in this case, between approximately 2006 and 2016, Weinzierl and Waldstein conspired with Odebrecht and others to launder money in a scheme to defraud Brazil’s tax authority of more than $100 million in taxes and to create off-books slush funds used by Odebrecht to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes for the benefit of public officials around the world. The indictment alleges that the slush funds were used specifically to pay bribes to government officials in Panama, Mexico, and Brazil. Odebrecht pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate the FCPA in 2016.

On September 18, 2020, the DOJ filed a sealed indictment in the Eastern District of New York against Weinzierl and Waldstein alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering as well as direct money laundering violations. The indictment was unsealed on May 25, 2021, with the arrest of Weinzierl in the U.K., but Waldstein remains at large.

This case is ongoing.

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