American, foreign national charged in Brazil energy company bribery scheme

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted a Connecticut man and a foreign national on charges of corruption and money laundering in an alleged scheme to bribe Brazilian officials for contracts with Brazil's state-owned energy company.

Glenn Oztemel, 64, of Westport, Conn., and Eduardo Inneco, a 73-year-old dual Brazilain and Italian citizen, allegedly bribed Brazilain officials, according to court documents.

The Department of Justice said the scheme happened between 2010 and 2018 when the two men allegedly bribed Petrobas energy company officials. The alleged bribes were paid to win contracts with Petrobas for two trading companies.

Oztemel and Innecco face charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each of them face three counts of FCPA violations and two counts of money laundering.

The Justice Department said in a statement, "They face up to five years in prison for each of the bribery conspiracy and bribery charges, and up to 20 years in prison for each of the money laundering conspiracy and money laundering charges."

As alleged in the unsealed indictment, "Oztemel and his co-conspirators caused Trading Company #1 and Trading Company #2 to make corrupt payments -- disguised as purported consulting fees and commissions -- to Innecco, knowing that Innecco would pay a portion of those funds to Brazilian officials as bribes. To conceal the scheme, Oztemel, Innecco, and their co-conspirators allegedly used coded language to refer to the bribes and communicated using personal email accounts, fictitious names, and encrypted messaging applications."