Earlier this week the DOJ announced a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action concerning an alleged bribery scheme in Mexico.
The indictment charges Ramon Alexandro Rovirosa Martinez (a citizen of Mexico and a lawful permanent resident of Texas) and Mario Alberto Avila Lizarraga (a citizen of Mexico and lawful permanent resident of Texas) for their roles in an alleged bribery scheme to retain and obtain business related to Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), the state-owned oil company of Mexico, and PEMEX Exploración y Producción (PEP), PEMEX’s wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary.
Rovirosa and Avila are associated with various Mexican companies that operated in the oil and gas industry. (See here).
In summary fashion, the indictment alleges:
“Beginning at least in or around June 2019 and continuing through at least in or around October 2021, ROVIROSA and AVILA, together with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, engaged in a bribery scheme in which they offered, paid, promised to pay, and authorized the payment of, bribes in the form of cash payments, luxury items, and other things of value, to and for the benefit of foreign officials in Mexico, including Foreign Official #1 [employed by PEMEX as a senior internal audit manager assigned to PEP] Foreign Official #2 [employed by PEMEX as a procurement coordinator] and Foreign Official #3 [employed by PEMEX and PEP within a division responsible for management of services relating to land infrastructure] in exchange for those foreign officials taking certain actions, using their influence within PEMEX and PEP to affect and influence the acts and decisions of PEMEX and PEP, and providing improper advantages, in order for ROVIROSA and AVILA to obtain and retain business from PEMEX and PEP for certain of the Mexico Energy Companies, in violation of the FCPA.
ROVIROSA’s and AVILA’s conduct resulted in Foreign Official #1, Foreign Official #2, and Foreign Official #3 taking actions that included, but were not limited to:
a. Bribes for Audit Closure and Payment from PEMEX and PEP:
Directing other PEMEX and PEP employees, including at least one of Foreign Official #1’s subordinates in PEMEX’s internal audit function, to resolve an audit relating to three of the Mexico Energy Companies in a manner favorable to those companies, a resolution which ROVIROSA and AVILA understood would also remove audit-related restrictions on the companies’ abilities to receive payments from PEMEX and PEP and obtain additional business with PEMEX and PEP;
b. Bribes for Roads and Platforms Contract:
Ensuring that certain of the Mexico Energy Companies were awarded a contract with PEMEX and PEP regarding roads and platforms work (the “Roads and Platforms Contract”), including by ending a then-ongoing audit of Mexico Energy Company #1 and Mexico Energy Company #2 that had generated adverse findings; and
c. Bribes for Mechanical Integrity Contract:
Ensuring that certain of the Mexico Energy Companies were awarded a contract with PEMEX and PEP regarding mechanical integrity of ground installations (the “Mechanical Integrity Contract”), including by ignoring an erroneous technical report submitted by those Mexico Energy Companies in connection with the bidding process and by intervening in the bidding process for the benefit of the Mexico Energy Companies.
These improper advantages resulting from the bribery scheme helped certain of the Mexico Energy Companies obtain and retain business with PEMEX and PEP. Specifically, in or around 2020, certain of the Mexico Energy Companies and their partners were awarded PEMEX/PEP contracts worth a combined value of at least USD $2.5 million.
In total, between at least in or around June 2019 and at least in or around October 2021, ROVIROSA and AVILA, together with others, offered, paid, caused to be paid, promised to pay, and authorized the payment and provision of, bribes totaling at least USD $150,000 in value for the benefit of Foreign Official #1, Foreign Official #2, and Foreign Official #3.
Among the things of value alleged in the indictment are cash payments and luxury goods including a Louis Vuitton handbag and a Hublot watch,
Rovirosa and Avila are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and three substantive violations of the FCPA.
In the DOJ release, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated:
“The defendants — foreign nationals residing in the U.S. — are alleged to have bribed Mexican officials in order to rig the bidding process to secure millions of dollars of lucrative contracts and other advantages. This indictment should send a clear message that the Criminal Division will not tolerate those who enrich corrupt officials for personal gain and to the detriment of the fair market.”
Jose Perez (Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division) stated:
“Bribery harms fair competition, erodes public trust, and will not be tolerated. [This] indictment underscores the commitment of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, to fairness for communities in Texas and beyond.”
