Jose Luis De Jongh-Atensio was a dual U.S. and Venezuelan citizen who worked as a procurement officer and manager for Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a Houston-based subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. ("PDVSA"), the state-owned and controlled oil company of Venezuela.
According to the documents in this case, between 2013 and 2019, De Jongh agreed to accept bribe payments from businessmen, including Jose Manuel Gonzalez Testino and Tulio Anibal Farias Perez, who were charged in a separate proceeding, in exchange for assisting the businessmen and related companies in conducting business with Citgo and PDVSA. De Jognh received over $2.5 million in bribes and assisted Gonzalez and Farias with procuring Citgo and PDVSA contracts. De Jongh also allegedly received gifts and other things of value from Gozalez, Farias, and others, including tickets to a 2014 World Series game, Super Bowl XLIX, and a U2 concert.
On July 16, 2020, the DOJ filed a sealed indictment in the Southern District of Texas against De Jongh. The indictment was unsealed and announced on August 6, 2020. On December 16, 2020, the DOJ filed a 10 count superseding indictment alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering, direct money laundering violations, conspiracy to violate the travel act, and direct travel act violations. On March 22, 2021, De Jongh entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ. In three separate orders issued on May 31, 2022, the court ordered De Jongh to forfeit $308,845.06 in previously seized funds from two U.S. bank accounts plus the funds in two Swiss bank accounts and a piece of real property in Texas. On December 14, 2022, the court entered a final money judgment against De Jongh in the amount of $8,887,759.62.
On January 25, 2023, the court sentenced De Jongh to 48 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay a fine of $149,654 plus a mandatory assessment of $100 in addition to the forfeiture already ordered.
