Ex-Vitol oil trader paid Mexico, Ecuador officials $1 million in bribes, prosecutor says

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 Genevabased 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.