Venezuelan National Charged With Money Laundering in Violation of FCPA
Rixon Rafael Moreno Oropeza, a Venezuelan national and businessman, was charged with making bribe payments and money laundering in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ announced. Per the indictment returned to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Moreno laundered the money made from inflated procurement contracts that were received by making bribes to senior executives at Petropiar -- a joint venture of Venezuela's state-owned energy company and an American oil company.
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Moreno allegedly engaged in the scheme from 2015 to 2019, paying the bribes to the Petropiar officials. The defendant allegedly bribed a senior Venezuelan government official with $1 million to install another individual as a high-ranking officer in Petropiar's procurement division. Moreno also allegedly paid millions of dollars to senior Petropiar officials from accounts he controlled in Florida. For the bribes, Moreno received over $30 million in benefits via payments on contracts from Petropiar to the Florida accounts.
In one instance, Moreno received around $2.7 million from a Petropiar contract to make breathing devices. The contract cost allegedly was inflated to around 100 times the actual cost, the indictment said. Proceeds of the scheme were used to buy real estate, a private jet and luxury vehicles in Florida, DOJ said.
Moreno is charged with violating the FCPA via conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, international laundering of monetary instruments and engaging in transactions in criminally derived property. The defendant faces a 20-year maximum penalty for each money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering count, and up to 10 years for each count for engaging in transactions involving criminally derived property.