Freepoint Commodities LLC was a commodities merchant based in Connecticut.
Glenn Oztemel, a resident of Connecticut, was a senior oil and gas trader at Freepoint.
Gary Oztemel, a resident of Connecticut, was the owner and president of Oil Trade & Transport S.A. (OTT) and the owner of Petro Trade Services Inc. Glenn and Gary were brothers.
Eduardo Innecco, a citizen of Brazil and Italy, was an oil and gas broker who worked as an agent for various energy trading companies in Brazil, including the two unnamed trading companies Oztemel worked for as well as a third unnamed trading company, for which he also served as a Vice President of Trading. Innecco also owned and controlled several companies including Albatross Shipping Consultants Ltd., Brazilian Chemicals & Petroleum LTDA, Morgenstern Energy Trading Ltd, and Wertech S.A.
According to the documents in this case, between 2012 and 2018, Freepoint, through its employees, including Glenn Oztemel, conspired to pay approximately $3.9 million in commission payments to lnnecco, knowing that all or a portion of the money would be used to pay bribes to officials at Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, and its subsidiaries in order to obtain business from Petrobras in connection with the purchase and sale of oil products.
On December 14, 2023, the DOJ filed a single count information in the District of Connecticut against Freepoint alleging a conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. On the same date, the company entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ. Under the terms of the settlement, Freepoint agreed to pay a criminal fine of $68,000,000, which represented a 15 percent departure off the bottom of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range, plus forfeiture of $30,551,150. The DOJ agreed to credit $22,400,000 paid to Brazilian authorities against the criminal fine and $7,637,788 paid to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against the forfeiture amount. The DOJ noted Freepoint's cooperation and remediation.
