NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A former oil trader at Vitol, one of the world’s largest energy trading companies, paid officials in Mexico and Ecuador nearly $1 million in bribes to win contracts worth around $500 million, a U.S. prosecutor said yesterday as the trader’s trial opened.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say Javier Aguilar, 49, sent money belonging to his Geneva-based employer to the officials through a convoluted series of middlemen and shell companies in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a U.S. law that prohibits paying bribes to foreign officials.
“The defendant committed these crimes for personal gain – for stature within his company, and for money,” prosecutor Clayton Solomon said in his opening statement, noting Aguilar earned more than $1 million per year in salary and bonuses. “When the defendant’s company made money, he made money.”
Aguilar has pleaded not guilty to three counts including violating the FCPA and conspiring to launder money.
In his opening statement, defense lawyer William Price said Aguilar hired consultants he thought were legitimate to help Vitol win business in Ecuador, and that those consultants paid bribes without his knowledge.
“This case is about corruption, but it is not about Mr. Aguilar’s corruption,” Price said. “He didn’t know about the Pere brothers’ secret sauce.”
The consultants, Antonio and Enrique Pere, are among several alleged co-conspirators of Aguilar’s who have entered guilty pleas and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Price said the cooperating witnesses were blaming Aguilar in the hope of winning lenient sentences, and that the payment structure Aguilar used was created by a top Vitol executive.
Aguilar is the first individual to stand trial in the United States as part of a sprawling Justice Department probe into commodity trading firms paying bribes to win business from state-run companies across Latin America, a scandal that has roiled energy markets from Mexico to Brazil.
Vitol in December 2020 admitted to bribing officials in Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador and agreed to pay $164 million to resolve U.S. and Brazilian probes. Rival trader Gunvor is bracing for a fine of up to $650 million to resolve U.S. probes into its business dealings in Ecuador.
Aguilar’s trial centers on a 30-month, $300 million contract Ecuador’s state oil company Petroecuador awarded in 2016, as well as a deal to supply Mexican state oil company Pemex with $200 million worth of liquid ethane.
He could face more than a decade in prison if convicted, though any sentence would be determined by U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano, based on a range of factors.
Aguilar faces additional charges in federal court in Houston over the alleged Pemex scheme. He has pleaded not guilty.
