FORMER VITOL ENERGY TRADER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR INTERNATIONAL BRIBERY AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEMES

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A former energy trader for Vitol has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for his role in two international bribery and money laundering schemes involving government officials in Ecuador and Mexico and more than $500 million in oil and gas contracts.

Javier Aguilar, 52, of Houston, was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn by U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano. In addition to the four-year prison term, Aguilar was ordered to forfeit approximately $7.13 million and pay a $100,000 fine. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Aguilar will be deported to Mexico after completing his prison sentence.

The case stems from two separate but related corruption schemes involving Ecuadorian officials and officials connected to PEMEX Procurement International, a wholly owned affiliate of Mexico’s state-owned oil company, PEMEX.

Aguilar worked as a trader in the Houston office of Vitol Inc., the U.S. affiliate of the Vitol group of companies, from 2015 through 2020. Vitol is one of the world’s largest energy trading firms.

Federal prosecutors said Aguilar and his co-conspirators agreed to bribe senior Ecuadorian officials in order to secure a $300 million contract to purchase fuel oil for Vitol.

Because Petroecuador maintained restrictions involving contracts with private companies, prosecutors said the conspirators used a Middle Eastern state-owned entity as an intermediary. In exchange for promised and completed bribe payments, Ecuadorian officials ensured that the state-owned entity and Vitol were awarded the contract.

The bribery operation was concealed through a network of fake contracts, sham invoices and shell companies incorporated in Curaçao, Panama and the Cayman Islands. Aguilar also used alias email accounts to communicate with other participants in the scheme.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Aguilar later used the same methods to move bribe payments connected to Mexico.

Federal prosecutors said Aguilar paid approximately $600,000 in bribes to two officials at PEMEX Procurement International in exchange for contracts allowing Vitol to supply hundreds of millions of dollars in ethane gas to PEMEX.

The Mexico scheme relied on the same general concealment structure used in the Ecuador operation, including shell entities and fraudulent invoices designed to disguise the purpose and destination of payments.

The jury convicted Aguilar of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and a substantive FCPA violation tied to the Ecuador scheme, along with conspiracy to commit money laundering involving both the Ecuador and Mexico bribery operations.

Aguilar separately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and conspiracy to violate the Travel Act in connection with the Mexico bribery scheme.

The prosecution represents a significant international corruption case because the conduct combined bribery, commodities trading, state-owned energy companies, offshore corporate structures and laundering of illicit payments across multiple jurisdictions.

Seven of Aguilar’s co-conspirators, including three foreign government officials, have pleaded guilty for their roles in the schemes. Collectively, those defendants agreed to forfeit more than $63 million in proceeds linked to the criminal conduct.

The prosecution also follows a separate corporate resolution involving Vitol itself.

In December 2020, Vitol admitted that it had bribed officials in Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil in violation of the FCPA. The company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

As part of that resolution, Vitol agreed to pay a combined $135 million in penalties through a coordinated settlement involving the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Brazilian authorities.

The Aguilar case therefore extends beyond the liability of a single former trader and forms part of a broader enforcement effort involving both individual and corporate responsibility for bribery in the international energy market.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases often focus on payments made to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. In this prosecution, federal authorities established that bribes were connected directly to major oil and gas contracts and that the resulting payments were concealed through offshore entities and fraudulent commercial documentation.

The money laundering component added another layer to the prosecution because the government was required to trace the movement of funds through shell entities and other financial structures used to disguise the true nature of the payments.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York said the sentence was intended to deter others from engaging in similar bribery schemes and emphasized the government’s continuing focus on corruption in commodities markets.

Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said Aguilar facilitated and led two major international bribery and money laundering schemes and said the department would continue pursuing individuals who use the financial system to move corrupt proceeds.

FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles said the prosecution demonstrated the bureau’s commitment to dismantling bribery and corruption schemes capable of distorting international commerce and damaging the integrity of financial markets.

The FBI Miami International Corruption Squad investigated the case.

The prosecution was handled by the Eastern District of New York’s Business and Securities Fraud Section together with the Justice Department Criminal Division’s White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section and Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick M. Axelrod, Assistant Chief Derek J. Ettinger and Trial Attorney D. Hunter Smith led the prosecution, with assistance from Deputy Chief Suzanne Elmilady and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherin Daniel of the Southern District of Texas. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Lax of the Eastern District of New York also worked on the case.

The Justice Department’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Special Financial Investigations Unit and Office of International Affairs provided additional assistance.

Aguilar’s sentencing closes the sentencing phase of his prosecution, but financial consequences remain ongoing because restitution has not yet been determined. He will also face deportation to Mexico after serving his sentence.

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