A financial advisor based in Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty today to a money laundering conspiracy for his role in using the U.S. financial system to launder money to promote violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Ecuadorian bribery law violations and to conceal and disguise the true nature of those illegal bribe payments.  Specifically, this conspiracy related to a scheme to pay bribes to officials of Ecuador’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company, Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (PetroEcuador).

U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Kelly Jackson of the IRS-Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C. office, Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., office and Special Agent in Charge George Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Frank Roberto Chatburn Ripalda (Chatburn), 42, a dual U.S. and Ecuadorian citizen, pleaded guilty in federal district court in Miami before the Honorable Marcia G. Cooke to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a 20-year statutory maximum sentence.  Chatburn is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Cooke on Dec. 18.

According to his admissions at the plea hearing, Chatburn conspired with an oil services contractor to pay nearly $3 million in bribes to Ecuadorian government officials in an effort to obtain and retain contracts with PetroEcuador.  As a financial advisor to the contractor, Chatburn agreed to make bribe payments for the benefit of several then-PetroEcuador officials through the use of shell companies and bank accounts in the United States, Panama, the Cayman Islands, Curacao and Switzerland.  To conceal the bribe payments and to promote the scheme, Chatburn established Panamanian shell companies with Swiss bank accounts on behalf of two then-PetroEcuador officials.

Chatburn further admitted that he conspired with another Ecuadorian government official to conceal bribe payments intended for the official from Odebrecht S.A., the Brazilian construction conglomerate.  Chatburn facilitated hiding these bribe payments by conducting the transactions through several shell companies and bank accounts in multiple jurisdictions, including in the United States. Odebrecht S.A. pleaded guilty on Dec. 21, 2016, in the Eastern District of New York to conspiring to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA in connection with a broader scheme to pay nearly $800 million in bribes to public officials in twelve countries, including Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Mozambique, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

To date, 10 individuals, including former Ecuadorian government officials, oil services contractors and financial advisors, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in U.S. courts for their involvement in the PetroEcuador bribery and money laundering schemes.

This case was investigated by HSI and IRS-CI, jointly under the auspices of the Global Illicit Financial Team, and by the FBI’s International Corruption Squad in Miami.  Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Rochlin,  Nalina Sombuntham and Alison W. Lehr have provided substantial assistance with the prosecution of this case, along with Deputy Chief Brian Young, Assistant Chiefs David Fuhr and Lorinda Laryea, Trial Attorney Katherine Raut of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Trial Attorneys Randall Warden and Mary Ann McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS). 

The U.S. Marshals Service and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs have provided significant assistance by obtaining evidence in this case, as have public authorities in, among other countries, Ecuador, Panama and the Cayman Islands.

MLARS’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees, whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters.  Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

To learn more about the government’s FCPA enforcement efforts, go to www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

A U.S.-based financial advisor pleaded guilty today for his role in an international money laundering conspiracy involving the proceeds of a scheme to pay bribes to officials of Ecuador’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (PetroEcuador).  

U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg of the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting Special Agent in Charge Kelly Jackson of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C. office made the announcement.

Jose Larrea, 40, a U.S. citizen who lives in Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty in Miami before U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke of the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14, by Judge Cooke.

According to his admissions at the plea hearing, Larrea conspired with his co-defendant, Frank Roberto Chatburn Ripalda (Chatburn), 40, a dual U.S. and Ecuadorian citizen who also lives in Miami, and others to conceal the proceeds of an unlawful scheme, namely to pay bribes to PetroEcuador officials.  Larrea admitted to participating in the money laundering scheme by wiring more than $1 million from his own U.S.-based bank account to several U.S.-based bank accounts.  Those wire transfers were made to conceal a bribery scheme involving an oil services contractor who made payments to PetroEcuador officials in an effort to retain existing contracts and win new business with PetroEcuador.  Larrea further admitted that he created false and back-dated documents on behalf of the oil services contractor.  

Larrea is the fourth individual to plead guilty in this case.  In addition to Larrea, two former officials of PetroEcuador who received bribe payments and the contractor described above have previously pleaded guilty to date in connection with the government’s ongoing investigations into the PetroEcuador bribery and money laundering schemes. 

Chatburn was charged in the same indictment on April 19, with one count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiring to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering.  Chatburn has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is currently set for Oct. 15. 

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI’s International Corruption Squad in Miami and IRS-CI are investigating the case.  Assistant Chief Lorinda Laryea and Trial Attorneys David Fuhr and Katherine Raut of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Trial Attorneys Randall Warden and Mary Ann McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Rochlin and Nalina Sombuntham of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case. 

The U.S. Marshals Service and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs has provided significant assistance by obtaining key evidence in this case, as have public authorities in, among other countries, Ecuador, Panama and the Cayman Islands.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters.  Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov/.