A Former oil and gas trader, Glenn Oztemel has been convicted for million-dollar money laundering by the federal government.
The scheme allegedly ran for eight years and involved bribing Brazilian government officials, laundering funds, and securing business for two Connecticut-based commodities trading companies. The FBI Los Angeles Field Office’s International Corruption Squad investigated the case.
The man from Westport, Connecticut, was found, according to the Justice Department report, complicit in paying bribes to officials of “Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), the Brazilian state-owned oil and gas company, to obtain lucrative contracts for Arcadia Fuels Ltd. (Arcadia) and Freepoint Commodities LLC (Freepoint).”
Man convicted for million-dollar money laundering
According to evidence presented at trial, Oztemel worked as a senior oil and gas trader between 2010 and 2018. He was a member of Arcadia and then worked with Freepoint.
It was alleged that the man and his accomplices paid millions in bribes to gain contracts with Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras.
To fund this lengthy list of financial payments, the court found Oztemel disguised the transfers as “consulting fees and commissions” to a third-party intermediary and agent, Eduardo Innecco, 74, knowing that Innecco would pay a portion of those funds to Brazilian officials, including Houston-based Petrobras trader Rodrigo Berkowitz.”
A federal jury convicted Oztemel of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), conspiracy to commit money laundering, three counts of violating the FCPA, and two counts of money laundering.
“Bribery and money laundering are well-established federal crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. “This conviction serves as another warning to anyone involved in the financial industry who seeks to gain an unfair advantage and illegally profit, both here in the U.S. and abroad. This office and our law enforcement partners will continue to keep a watchful eye to ensure that representatives from U.S. businesses operating overseas comply with our nation’s laws.”
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