Bribery & Corruption

Complaint alleging "a conspiracy of illegal bribery and other criminal acts" regarding Petróleos de Venezuela SA in CITGO Petroleum Corporation, of Delaware v. Petroleum Logistics Service Corp., of Panama, and Jose Manuel Gonzalez Testino, described as "a dual United States and Venezuelan citizen", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Application by Benjamin Steinmetz, of Israel, described as an "adviser" to BSG Resources Limited, "a Guernsey-based international mining and natural resources company", to take discovery from Vale SA, described as a Brazil company that is "one of the largest mining companies in the world"; Vale Americas Inc., Rio Tinto Plc, and Rio Tinto Limited for use in legal proceedings in the United Kingdom involving Vale S.A., of Brazil; Vale Holdings B.V., of the Netherlands, and Vale International S.A., of Switzerland, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from TXA Florida Holdings LLC, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Bank of Santa Fe, and Legacy Texas Bank regarding accounts in the names of Sun City Retail LLC, Crystal Springs on the River LLC, SQ Financial LLC, and LVG Investments LLC - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Germany - for a criminal investigation into Stefan Johannes Weiland, Helmut Heinrich Alexander Landwehr, and others for fraud and embezzlement.

Application by the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to take discovery from VR Advisory Services Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; VR Advisory Services (USA) LLC, VR Capital Group Ltd., of the United Kingdom; VR Global Onshore Fund LP, VR Argentina Recovery Onshore Fund II LP, Richard Deitz, Jeffrey Johnson, and Ashok Raju for use in "criminal investigations and criminal judicial proceedings that are pending in the Federal Republic of Nigeria" regarding "a fraudulent natural gas processing agreement", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

News Release, and a copy of a "trilateral agreement among the governments of the United States, Nigeria and the Bailiwick of Jersey", by the U. S. Department of Justice announcing the repatriation to Nigeria of $311 million that were allegedly the proceeds of corruption involving General Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Sani Abacha, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, lsmaila Gwarzo, Alhaji Ahmadu Daura, Chief Anthony Ani, David Umaru, Doraville Properties Corporation, Eagle Alliance International Limited, Harbour Engineering and Construction Limited, Mecosta Securities Inc., Morgan Procurement Corporation, Rayville International SA, The Ridley Trust, Ridley Group Limited, and Standard Alliance Financial Services Limited.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement regarding a scheme to launder the proceeds of bribery and corruption involving soccer's global governing body FIFA in USA v. Bank Hapoalim B.M., of Israel, and Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd., of Switzerland, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application by Vale SA, of Brazil; Vale Holdings BV, of the Netherlands, and Vale International SA, of Switzerland, to take discovery from HFZ Capital Group LLC, Ziel Feldman, Helene Feldman, Nir Meir, John Shannon, the Feldman Family 2007 Trust, Kenneth Henderson, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, Chatsworth Realty 340 LLC, HFZ 344 West 72nd Street Owner LLC, Chatsworth Realty Corp., 215 Chrystie LLC, HFZ 40 Broad Street LLC, HFZ Highline Property Owner LLC, HFZ Highline Retail Owner LLC, HFZ Highline LLC, HFZ 501 West LLC, 20 West 40 Bryant Park Owner LLC, HFZ Bryant Park Owner LLC, Tarpley Belnord Corp., Perfectus Real Estate Corp., HFZ 235 West 75th Street Owner LLC, HFZ 301 West 53rd Street Owner LLC, HFZ 88 Lexington Avenue Owner LLC, HFZ 90 Lexington Avenue Owner LLC, HFZ KIK 30th Street Owner LLC, HFZ West 30th Street Partners LLC, HFZ KIK 30th Street LLC, HFZ KIK 30th Street Mezzanine LLC, 76 Eleventh Avenue Property Owner LLC, Fine Arts NY LLC, RFR Holding LLC, Aby Rosen, R&S Chrysler LLC and RFR Realty LLC for use in legal proceedings in England against Benjamin (Beny) Steinmetz, Dag Lars Cramer, Marcus Struik, Asher Avidan, Joseph Tchelet, David Clark, the Balda Foundation, of Liechtenstein, and Nysco Management Corp., of the British Virgin Islands, alleging the fraudulent inducement of $1.2 billion for "a scheme to illegally gain valuable mining rights through bribery of government officials in the Republic of Guinea", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Administrative Order imposing disgorgement and interest totaling $24.5 million against Eni SpA, described as "an Italian multinational oil and gas company", before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

News Release by the U. S. Department of Justice announcing that "U.S. Repatriates $300 Million to Malaysia in Proceeds of Funds Misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad".

Complaint alleging a scheme "to bribe various government officials in the Republic of Ghana" in the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Asante K. Berko, described as "a dual United States and Ghanaian citizen who currently resides in Ghana" and "a former executive of a United Kingdom-based financial services company that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a publicly traded bank holding company based in the United States", at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Standard Chartered Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of Oklahoma, HSBC, Bank of America, Commerzebank, Credit Agricole, Fifth Third Bank, and BNP Paribas regarding transfers from an account at Bank Mendes Gans NV in the name of CBI Colombiana SA - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Colombia - for a criminal investigation into "Reficar S.A. and Colombian public officials for embezzlement by appropriation, improper interest in signing contracts, and illicit enrichment of private individuals".

Nigeria is seeking records from ten banks in the United States for a criminal investigation into an alleged $10 billion bribery and fraud scheme committed by a "shell entity" in the British Virgin Islands that was set up and operated by citizens of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Application by the Republic of Nigeria to take discovery from Citibank, N.A., Allied Irish Banks, HSBC Bank USA, Standard New York, Inc., Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, J.P. Morgan Chase, United Bank for Africa, Bank of Cyprus, Fortis Private Banking Singapore Limited., and Standard Chartered International (USA) Ltd. for use in "criminal investigations" in Nigeria regarding "a fraudulent scheme to defraud FRN of almost $10 billion ... carried out by Process & Industrial Developments Limited, a British Virgin Islands shell entity with no technical capabilities, virtually no employees, and no demonstrable financial resources", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Wells Fargo Bank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Ecuador - for a criminal investigation into Marcelo Antonio Espin Cunha, Maria Sol Larrea Sanchez, and Carlos Ricardo Espin Cunha for suspected money laundering.

Criminal Complaint alleging money laundering regarding the alleged proceeds of bribery and corruption involving Petróleos de Venezuela, SA, a.k.a. PDVSA, described as "Venezuela's state-owned and state-controlled oil company", in USA v. Leonardo Santilli, described as "a Venezuelan and Italian citizen", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Third Superseding Indictment adding four new defendants, including former executives of 21st Century Fox, Inc., of the United States, and Imagina Media Audiovisual SL, of Spain, alleging racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud, tax fraud, and unlawful procurement of naturalization regarding alleged bribery and corruption involving FIFA and other soccer organizations in USA v. Hugo Jinkis, a citizen of Argentina; Mariano Jinkis, a citizen of Argentina; Full Play Group SA, of Uruguay; Hernan Lopez, a citizen of the U.S. and Argentina; Carlos Martinez, a citizen of the U.S. and Mexico; Gerard Romy, a citizen of Spain; Ariel Alvarado, a citizen of Panama; Manuel Burga, a citizen of Peru; Luis Chiriboga, a citizen of Ecuador; Marco Polo Del Nero, a citizen of Brazil; Eduardo Deluca, a citizen of Argentina; Eugenio Figueredo, a citizen of the U.S. and Uruguay; José Luís Meiszner, a citizen of Argentina; Romer Osuna, a citizen of Bolivia; Ricardo Teixeira, a citizen of Brazil; Reynaldo Vasquez, a citizen of El Salvador, and Jack Warner, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal Complaint alleging money laundering regarding the proceeds of corruption and involving, inter alia, bank accounts in Austria and Switzerland and companies in Belize and Panama in USA v. Maikel Jose Moreno Perez, described as the "President of the Supreme Tribunal in Venezuela", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Fifth Superseding Indictment alleging fraud, money laundering, and other offenses in USA v. Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah, described as "the purported vice president for the Economy of Venezuela"; Joselit Ramirez Camacho, described as "the Superintendent of Cryptocurrencies for Venezuela", and Samark Jose Lopez Bello at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Superseding Indictment alleging narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices in USA v. Nicolás Maduro Moros, a former President of Venezuela; Diosado Armando Carvajal Barrios, described as "president of Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly, and a member of the Venezuelan armed forced"; Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, a.k.a. 'El Pollo', described as "the director of Venezuela's military intelligence agency"; Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, described as "a former general in the Venezuelan military"; Luciano Marín Arango, a.k.a. 'Ivan Marquez', described as "a Colombian citizen" and member of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, a.k.a. FARC, and Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte, a.k.a. 'Jesús Santrich', described as "a former general in the Venezuelan military", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal Complaint alleging conspiracy to launder the proceeds of bribery involving Ecuador in USA v. Roberto Heinert, described as a dual citizen of Ecuador and the USA, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Criminal Complaint alleging "the defendants agreed to launder, through various bank accounts and cash deliveries, the purported proceeds of bribes paid to Brazilian public officials" in USA v. Jose Morely Chocron, Isaac Schachtel, Juan Carlos Balaguera Villamizar, Alfredo Lichoa, and Juan Marcos Matos Ruiz at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

USA's Trial Brief in USA v. Greg E. Lindberg, John D. Gray, and John V. Palermo, Jr. at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

Criminal Complaint alleging conspiracy to launder the proceeds of bribery involving, inter alia, companies in the Cayman Islands, Panama, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom in USA v. Juan Ribas Domenech, a citizen of Ecuador; Jose Vicente Gomez Aviles, a citizen of Colombia, and Felipe Moncaleano Botero, a citizen of Ecuador, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Corrupt ex-Antigua financial regulator Leroy King, 74, faces up to five years in prison in the US after admitting receiving over $500,000 in cash and tickets to two Super Bowls from $7 billion fraudster Allen Stanford in return for turning a blind eye to his activities and obstructing an investigation by the SEC

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Bank of America regarding Cyprus Enterprises LLC, Global Hardware Resellers LLC, and US Caribbean Export LLC - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Sint Maarten - for a criminal investigation into Michael Dijkhoffz and others for suspected "money laundering and abuse of power by a civil servant".

Judgment approving a Deferred Prosecution Agreement and imposing a "total financial sanction" of €990,963,712 for suspected bribery in Director of the Serious Fraud Office v. Airbus SE at the Crown Court, in Southwark, England.

Ex Parte Application by Kuwait Ports Authority to take discovery from Citibank and E-Trade Financial Corporation for use in "impending litigation" in the Cayman Islands regarding "fraud and other wrongdoing related to KPA's investments in and business dealings with: (1) KGL Investment Company KSCC; and (2) the private equity fund, The Port Fund L.P." estimated at "hundreds of millions of dollars", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Plea Agreement in which the defendant admits receiving $500,000 in bribes and tickets to two Super Bowls to obstruct an SEC investigation into $7 billion investment fraudster Allen Stanford in USA v. Leroy King, a former CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, of Antigua and Barbuda, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

News Release from the United States Department of Justice announcing that Donville Inniss, described as a "Former Member of Barbados Parliament and Minister of Industry", has been "found guilty" for his role in a bribery scheme that, as previously reported by OffshoreAlert, involved insurers Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd., of Barbados, and BF&M Ltd., of Bermuda, which was the majority shareholder of ICBL.

Fourth Superseding Indictment alleging fraud, bribery, money laundering, and filing a false tax return in USA v. David Sidoo, Gregory Colburn, Amy Colburn, Gamal Abdelaziz, Diane Blake, Todd Blake, I-Hsin 'Joey' Chen, Mossimo Giannulli, Elizabeth Kimmel, Lori Loughlin, William McGlashan, Jr., Marci Palatella, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, and Robert Zangrillo at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Application by Israeli national Eli Sabag to take discovery from Marion County Community Corrections and John Deiter for use in "an intended criminal complaint" in the United Kingdom against German national Lars Windhorst for suspected fraud and bribery regarding the sale of Israel's GPS Global Tracking & Surveillance System Ltd. to Track Group Inc., of Illinois, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Editor's Note: This application was filed under seal on December 31st, 2019 and unsealed on February 11th, 2020.

U.K. national David Rae, who was exposed by OffshoreAlert in 2012 for his role in a £100 million investment fraud by Cayman Islands-domiciled Axiom Legal Financing Fund, has pleaded guilty to money laundering in New Jersey regarding unrelated health care fraud schemes.

Application by Mauricio Mota to take discovery from Colorado Investment Holdings LLC, formerly known as Blessed Holdings LLC, for use in legal proceedings in Brazil styled as 'Maurício Jorge Pereira de Mota v. Joesley Mendonça Batista, et al' regarding "a massive and widely-reported corruption and bribery scandal", filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Change of Plea Minutes and Plea Agreement for money laundering regarding a health care fraud scheme in USA v. David Rae, a citizen of the United Kingdom, at the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Consent Judgment of Forfeiture and Preliminary Order of Forfeiture regarding, but not limited to, funds at ANZ Bank, in New Zealand, in the name of Sympatic Global Solutions LP and at Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, in Hong Kong, in the name of Cargill Consulting Ltd. in USA v. David Rae, a citizen of the United Kingdom, at the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Order Making Findings and Imposing Sanctions, including disgorgement of $43.7 million, against Tim Leissner, a former senior officer with Goldman Sachs, regarding alleged "bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Malaysia and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi', before the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Application by Mauricio Mota to take discovery from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Fabio Pegas, Patricia Pratini De Moraes, and Blessed Holdings Inc. regarding several individuals and entities, including those in the Bahamas, Brazil, Cayman Islands, and Luxembourg, for use in legal proceedings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, against "Joesley and Wesley Mendonça Batista and their companies, including Brazilian meat-processing conglomerate JBS S.A. and J&F Investimentos S.A., to recover billions of dollars of public funds the Batistas admittedly obtained illicitly as part of a massive and widely-reported corruption and bribery scandal", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application by Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited, of England, to take discovery from Deloitte LLP for use in legal proceedings at the High Court of Justice of England and Wales against its former attorneys, Dechert LLP and David Neil Gerrard, for alleged misconduct, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Audi Bank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Brazil - for a criminal investigation into Robert Nahas Naji for suspected money laundering and corruption regarding Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL), its Anti-Trust Agency (CADE), Italian telecommunications provider Telecom Italia Public, and Brasil Telecom.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the British Virgin Islands by Matthew Richardson and Kevin Hellard, of Grant Thornton, as the Foreign Representatives of Durant International Corp., Kildare Finance Ltd., and McDoel Investment Limited, which were "controlled and beneficially owned by Paulo Salim Malif", described as a former mayor os São Paulo, Brazil, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint arising from "violations of the anti-bribery, recordkeeping, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, of Sweden, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ex Parte Application by Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited, of England, to conduct discovery from Glenn Simpson, of Fusion GPS, for use in legal proceedings at the High Court of Justice for England and Wales against Mark Hollingsworth for "breach of confidence", filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Dropbox Inc. - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Poland - for a criminal investigation into Dariusz Hepert, Jarosław Turski, Michał Chmielewski, Tomasz Durzalski, and Paweł Patulski for suspected abuse of public authority, fraud, and money laundering.

Complaint alleging violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Securities Exchange Act in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jerry Li, a citizen and resident of China, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In this session, author and journalist Oliver Bullough will discuss the extent of corruption and dishonesty in global business and politics, how the perpetrators are able to get away with it, and its effect on democracy.When he's not investigating and

Application by Inversiones Lugon 48, of Venezuela, to take discovery from Equinor US Operations LLC, described as Texas-based subsidiary of "a publicly traded Norwegian corporation"; Miguel Strauss, and Carlos Izquierdo for use in legal proceedings in Venezuela, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Ex Parte Application by Iraq Telecom Limited to conduct discovery from non-party Dechert LLP for use in a pending arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce and contemplated legal proceedings in the United Kingdom regarding "massive fraud and corruption", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Ex Parte Application of the USA - on behalf of the Republic of Slovenia - for an order requiring Facebook Inc. to disclose records for a criminal investigation into Robert Mravljak, former Secretary General of the Police Officers Trade Union of Slovenia, and others for suspected abuse of office and bribery, filed at the at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Criminal Information alleging Violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Tax Evasion, and Foreign, Conduit, and Other Illegal Campaign Contributions in USA v. Imaad Shah Zuberi at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Plea Agreement in USA v. Imaad Shah Zuberi at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.