Two plead guilty in oil bribery case

An owner of several Texas-based energy companies and the part owner of a Florida-based energy company each pleaded guilty Tuesday to foreign bribery charges for their roles in obtaining contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, federal authorities said. The guilty pleas were entered in federal court in Houston.

Charles Quintard Beech III, 46, of Katy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Juan Jose Hernandez Comerma, 51, of Weston, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the act and one count of violating the act.

Sentencing is scheduled for both July 14.

Beech paid bribes to several officials of the Venezuelan national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, in exchange for their help in placing his companies on bidding lists, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

Beech also admitted that he engaged in financial transactions to conceal the nature and source of the bribes that took place between 2011 and 2012.

Houston lawyer Philip Hilder said his client Beech has accepted responsibility and “is ready to get this matter behind him.”

Hernandez conspired with two U.S.-based businessmen to pay bribes to purchasing agents working for PDVSA so that their companies could bid for lucrative energy contracts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston. The bribes, which occurred between 2008 and 2012, included travel and entertainment.

Hernandez’s lawyers did not return calls for comment.

Eight individuals, including Beech and Hernandez, have pleaded guilty as part of a larger ongoing investigation by the federal government into bribery practices at PDVSA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

PDVSA did not return a request for comment.