What Does “Resident” Mean?
In 2018, the DOJ unsealed criminal charges against Raul Gorrin Belisario, a prominent Venezuelan businessman and described by the DOJ as a citizen and national of Venezuela who at various time periods relevant to the charges was a resident of the U.S. with a residence in Florida. (See here).
According to the criminal indictment, Gorrin “offered and agreed to pay bribes to Foreign Official 1 [described as a high-level official with decision-making authority and influence within the Oficina Nacional del Tesoro (ONT), the Venezuelan National Treasury] for purposes of obtaining and retaining business; specifically, influencing and inducing Foreign Official 1 to permit Gorrin to conduct foreign currency exchanges for the Venezuelan government and securing an improper advantage in acquiring the right to conduct such exchange transactions.”
In addition to the FCPA charge, Gorrin was also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and several substantive money laundering offenses.
DOJ Criminally Charges Gorrin … Again
As discussed in this prior post, in 2018 the DOJ announced criminal charges against Raul Gorrin Belisario, a well-known Venezuelan businessman and described by the DOJ as a citizen and national of Venezuela who at various time periods relevant to the charges was a resident of the U.S. with a residence in Florida.
According to the criminal indictment, Gorrin “offered and agreed to pay bribes to Foreign Official 1 [described as a high-level official with decision-making authority and influence within the Oficina Nacional del Tesoro (ONT), the Venezuelan National Treasury] for purposes of obtaining and retaining business; specifically, influencing and inducing Foreign Official 1 to permit Gorrin to conduct foreign currency exchanges for the Venezuelan government and securing an improper advantage in acquiring the right to conduct such exchange transactions.”
Former Venezuelan National Treasurer and Her Husband Sentenced To 15 Years In Connection With Bribery Scheme
In 2018, the DOJ unsealed criminal charges against Raul Gorrin Belisario, a well-known Venezuelan businessman and described by the DOJ as a citizen and national of Venezuela who at various time periods relevant to the charges was a resident of the U.S. with a residence in Florida. (See here).
According to the criminal indictment, Gorrin “offered and agreed to pay bribes to Foreign Official 1 [described as a high-level official with decision-making authority and influence within the Oficina Nacional del Tesoro (ONT), the Venezuelan National Treasury] for purposes of obtaining and retaining business; specifically, influencing and inducing Foreign Official 1 to permit Gorrin to conduct foreign currency exchanges for the Venezuelan government and securing an improper advantage in acquiring the right to conduct such exchange transactions.”
Friday Roundup
Interesting, from the DOJ’s perspective, pay them more, sanctioned, scrutiny update, exit, and for the reading stack. It’s all here in the Friday roundup.
Interesting
As highlighted here, in December 2016 Odebrecht S.A. (a Brazilian holding company) and Braskem S.A. (a Brazil-based petrochemical company in which Odebrecht owns a majority of voting shares) resolved a large FCPA and related enforcement action largely concerning conduct in Brazil including the companies relationships with Petrobras as well as allegations of improper payments in Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
DOJ Charges Well-Known Venezuelan Billionaire Raul Gorrin With FCPA And Related Offenses
I recently had a conversation with a lawyer who speculated that the recent spate of Venezuela-focused Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions was part of a U.S. government effort to facilitate regime change in the country.
Who knows, but it is hard to ignore the many recent FCPA enforcement actions focused on conduct in Venezuela (see here, here, here and here for prior posts).
The latest is this recently unsealed criminal indictment against Raul Gorrin Belisario, a well-known Venezuelan businessman and described by the DOJ as a citizen and national of Venezuela who at various time periods relevant to the charges was a resident of the U.S. with a residence in Florida.