Aguilar Pleads Guilty In Second Matter
As highlighted here, in September 2020 the DOJ announced that Javier Aguilar (a former employee of Vitol Inc.) was criminally charged for “his alleged participation in a five-year international bribery and money laundering scheme involving corrupt payments to Ecuadorian officials.” (In December 2020, Vitol resolved a net $90 million Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action for conduct in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico – see here).
In December 2022, the DOJ filed a superseding indictment adding FCPA and related charges in connection with an alleged Mexican bribery scheme. The DOJ alleged that Aguilar “together with others, engaged in a bribery and money laundering scheme involving the payment of bribes to Mexican officials … in exchange for, among other things, securing improper advantages for Vitol in obtaining and retain business with PEMEX and PEMEX Procurement International.
As highlighted here, in February 2024 Aguilar was convicted at trial for paying bribes to Ecuadorian officials and laundering the bribe money for both the Ecuador and Mexico bribery schemes.
Judicial Decision Touches Upon On A Variety Of FCPA Issues
As highlighted in this prior post, in February 2024 Javier Aguilar was convicted by a federal jury “for his role in a scheme to bribe Ecuadorean and Mexican government officials and to launder money to secure contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for his then-employer, Vitol Inc. (Vitol), the U.S. affiliate of the largest independent energy trading firm in the world.” Aguilar was convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), one count of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Thereafter, Aguilar filed a motion for judgment of acquittal, or in the alternative, for a new trial. Recently, Judge Eric Vitaliano (E.D.N.Y.) denied the motion and in doing so touched upon the FCPA’s “foreign official,” element, knowledge, and the FCPA’s local law affirmative defense.
Potpourri
Ericsson
As highlighted in this prior post, in 2019 Ericsson (a Swedish telecom company with American Depositary Shares traded in the U.S.) resolved a $1.06 billion FCPA enforcement action concerning conduct in Djibouti, China, Vietnam, Kuwait, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.
As part of the resolution, Ericsson was required to engage an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period.
In late 2022, Ericsson announced “that it has agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to extend the term of the Company’s Independent Compliance Monitor for one year, to June 2024.” (See here for the prior post).
A Look At The Aguilar Jury Instructions
Late week, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Javier Aguilar “for his role in a scheme to bribe Ecuadorean and Mexican government officials and to launder money to secure contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for his then-employer, Vitol Inc. (Vitol), the U.S. affiliate of the largest independent energy trading firm in the world.” (See here for the prior post).
The trial is believed to be only the 22nd trial in the FCPA’s 47 years.
Which means that FCPA jury instructions are also rare.
Set forth below are portions of the FCPA jury instructions in the trial.
Aguilar Convicted Of FCPA And Related Offenses
In the FCPA’s 45 years, there have been only 21 trials (based on my research).
The FCPA’s 22nd trial began in early January in a courtroom in the Eastern District of New York.
The case is U.S. v. Javier Aguilar. (See here for the prior post detailing the charges).
Late Friday, the DOJ announced that a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Aguilar “for his role in a scheme to bribe Ecuadorean and Mexican government officials and to launder money to secure contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for his then-employer, Vitol Inc. (Vitol), the U.S. affiliate of the largest independent energy trading firm in the world.”