WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A Connecticut oil and gas trader was charged on Tuesday for his alleged role in a bribery scheme to win business from Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras PETR4.SA oil company, the Justice Department said.
Gary Oztemel, of Riverside, Connecticut, owner of Petro Trade Services, was charged with money laundering and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ said.
Charges in the case against his brother, Glenn Oztemel, were unsealed on Feb. 15.
The DOJ said that between 2010 and 2018 Gary and Glenn Oztemel and Eduardo Innecco, a Brazilian-Italian oil and gas broker, paid bribes to Brazilian officials to help two Connecticut trading companies secure contracts and learn confidential details about Petrobras’ fuel oil business.