Javier Aguilar, a U.S. citizen, worked as a manager and energy trader for Vitol Inc., a company, that along with its affiliates, formed one of the largest oil distributors and energy commodities traders in the world.
Empresa Publica de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (“Petroecuador”) was the state-owned and state-controlled oil company of Ecuador.
Petroleos Mexicanos ("PEMEX") was the state-owned oil company of Mexico. PEMEX Procurement International, Inc. ("PPI") was a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of PEMEX headquartered in the U.S. that handled the acquisition of goods and services on behalf of PEMEX.
According to the documents in this case, between 2015 and July 2020, Aguilar and others conspired to pay bribes of over $1.5 million to officials at Petroecuador and at the Ecuadorian Ministry of Hydrocarbons as well as officials at PPI in order to obtain and retain business for Vitol's European parent, Vitol S.A. The bribes were funneled to the officials through the use of sham consulting agreements between bribe paying intermediaries and offshore shell companies.
On July 10, 2020, the DOJ filed a complaint against Aguilar in the Eastern District of New York, and on September 22, 2020, a two-count indictment was filed against Aguilar alleging a conspiracy to violate the antibribery provisions of the FCPA as well as a conspiracy to commit money laundering. Aguilar pled not guilty on October 2.
On December 2, 2022, the DOJ filed a superseding indictment against Aguilar that added the allegations of the Mexican bribery scheme to the existing allegations concerning the Ecuadorian scheme. This superseding indictment also added two counts of direct violations of the antibribery provisions of the FCPA.
On April 27, Aguilar moved to dismiss counts two, four, and part of five for lacking proper venue. On May 31, 2023, the court granted the motion to dimiss as to counts two and four, but dismissed it as to count five.
On January 5, 2024, the DOJ filed a three-count superseding indictment in advance of the beginning of the trial, which began the same day. On February 23, 2024, the jury convicted Aguilar on all counts. He is awaiting sentencing.
This case is ongoing.
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