Venezuelan Citizen Charged With FCPA Offenses In Connection Venezuelan Food Bribery Scheme
Earlier this week a criminal information was filed in the Southern District of Florida charging Orlando Alfonso Contreras Saab (a citizen of Venezuela) with conspiracy to violate the FCPA in connection with an alleged Venezuelan bribery scheme.
According to the information, Contreras Saab and his co-conspirators “unlawfully enrich[ed] themselves by engaging in a scheme to bribe Venezuelan officials to obtain and retain contracts and other business advantages, including obtaining mutli-million-dollar contracts with entities and instrumentalities owned and controlled by the Venezuelan government for the production, importation, and distribution of food and medicine to the people of Venezuela.”
DOJ Announces Additional Venezuelan Bribery Schemes – Yet No FCPA Charges
This mid-2021 post highlighted the noticeable trend of the DOJ specifically alleging that an individual violated the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions, yet not charging the individual with FCPA anti-bribery violations, but rather money laundering violations.
Last week, the DOJ returned to this playbook as it announced the unsealing of an indictment charging three Colombian nationals and two Venezuelan nationals for their alleged roles in laundering the proceeds of contracts to provide food and medicine to Venezuela that were obtained through bribes.
As stated in the DOJ release: