As highlighted here, in November 2021 announced the unsealing of a 2020 criminal complaint against agents associated with Odebrecht in connection with the company’s 2016 FCPA enforcement action (see here for the prior post).
Brothers Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares (both citizens of Panama and Italy and the sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli) allegedly “participated in the Odebrecht bribery scheme by, among other things, serving as intermediaries for bribe payments and the provision of other things of value that Odebrecht offered and provided to the Panama Government Official (their father). The complaint alleged that, among other things, the defendants “established offshore bank accounts in the names of offshore shell companies to receive and disguise bribe payments from Odebrecht made for the benefit of the Panama Government Official.
The brothers pleaded guilty and were recently sentenced to 36 months in prison and were ordered to forfeit more than $18.8 million, pay a $250,000 fine, and serve two years’ supervised release. (See here for the DOJ release).
