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Brothers Plead Guilty To FCPA And Related Charges In Connection With Ecuador Conduct At Issue In Sargeant Marine And Vitol Enforcement Actions

By on April 26, 2022 in 2020 Enforcement Action, Antonio Pere Ycaza, DOJ Enforcement Action, Ecuador, Enrique Pere Ycaza, Individual Enforcement Action
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Keeping track of DOJ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act actions against individuals can sometimes be tricky.

Many individual actions are announced through DOJ press releases, but some enforcement actions are not and just quietly appear on a court docket.

For instance, you probably have not heard much about the FCPA enforcement action against brothers Enrique Pere Ycaza and Antonio Pere Ycaza.

The criminal informations (see here and here) were filed in October 2020: (i) shortly after the September 2020 FCPA enforcement action against Sargeant Marine Inc. (SMI – a Florida based asphalt company) (see here for the prior post) concerning conduct in Brazil, Venezuela and Ecuador; and (ii) shortly before the December 2020 FCPA enforcement action against Vitol (an energy trading company – see here for the prior post) concerning conduct in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico.

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DOJ Quietly Releases “Declination With Disgorgement” Letter Involving JLT

By on March 30, 2022 in 2022 Enforcement Action, Declination Decisions, DOJ “Piling On” Policy, DOJ Enforcement Action, Ecuador, Insurance Industry, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Serious Fraud Office
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This March 15th post discussed a future $29 million “declination with disgorgement” enforcement action disclosed by Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. in connection with its 2019 acquisition of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT).

On March 22nd, the DOJ quietly updated its FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy declinations page by posting the March 18th “declination with disgorgement” letter.

The last time the DOJ self-identified an FCPA enforcement action as a “declination” was approximately 1.5 years ago (in August 2020).

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Former Gunvor Employee Pleads Guilty In Connection With Ecuador Bribery Scheme

By on April 8, 2021 in 2021 Enforcement Actions, Ecuador, Gunvor Group, Oil and Gas Industry, Raymond Kohut, Third Parties
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Recently Raymond Kohut (a Canadian citizen who lived in the Bahamas and worked in business development for Gunvor Group Ltd., a Switzerland based commodities firm) pleaded guilty in connection with an Ecuador bribery scheme.

Similar to the DOJ’s recent money laundering charges against Jorge Cherrez Mino and John Robert Luzuriaga Aguinaga in connection with a bribery scheme in Ecuador (see here for the prior post), the DOJ’s allegations against Kohut provide a jurisdictional basis for FCPA anti-bribery offenses, yet the information “only” charges money laundering offenses.

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DOJ Announces Individual Criminal Charges In Connection With Ecuador Bribery Scheme

By on March 3, 2021 in 2021 Enforcement Actions, DOJ Enforcement Action, Ecuador, FCPA Related Charges, Individual Enforcement Action, John Robert Luzuriaga Aguinaga, Jorge Cherrez Mino
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Yesterday, the DOJ announced criminal charges against Jorge Cherrez Mino (pictured) and John Robert Luzuriaga Aguinaga in connection with a bribery scheme in Ecuador.

According to this criminal complaint, Cherrez (a citizen of Ecuador who is currently located in Mexico) served as the manager, president, and director of the “U.S. Investment Fund Companies” (a domestic concern under the FCPA).

According to this separate criminal complaint, Luzuriaga (a citizen of Ecuador who is currently located in Florida) served as the Risk Director for Instituto de Seguridad Social de la Policia Nacional (“ISSPOL” – an Ecuadorian public institution responsible for managing the financial contributions by Ecuadorian police officers toward their social security). The complaint alleges that “ISSPOL was controlled by the government of Ecuador and performed a function that Ecuador treated as its own, and was an ‘instrumentality’ of the Ecuadorian government.”)

Even though the Cherrez complaint provides a jurisdictional basis for FCPA anti-bribery offenses and indeed alleges that Cherrez violated the FCPA, the Cherrez and Luzuriaga complaints charge money laundering offenses.

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Vitol Resolves Net $90 Million FCPA Enforcement Action For Conduct In Brazil, Ecuador And Mexico

By on December 7, 2020 in 2020 Enforcement Action, Brazil, DOJ Enforcement Action, Ecuador, Foreign Non-Issuer Company, Gaining Access to Confidential Documents, Jurisdiction, Mexico, Oil and Gas Industry, Third Parties, Vitol
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Last week the DOJ announced that Vitol Inc., the U.S. affiliate of the Vitol group of companies, which together form one of the largest energy trading companies in the world, agreed to resolve a net $90 million FCPA enforcement action for conduct in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico.

As noted in the DOJ release (and as will be explored in a future post) “Vitol has also agreed to disgorge more than $12.7 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a related matter and to pay the CFTC a penalty of $16 million related to trading activity not covered” by the DOJ enforcement action.

Under the heading “The Brazil Bribery Scheme” this criminal information alleges:

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