Energy Trader Fined More Than $150 Million for FCPA Violations
The U.S. affiliate of one of the world’s largest energy trading firms will pay more than $150 million in fines after it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said Dec. 3. The company, Vitol Inc., paid millions of dollars in bribes to Brazilian officials and conspired to bribe officials in Ecuador and Mexico, the Justice Department said. The schemes involved fake consulting agreements, shell companies and more than $8 million in bribes.
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Between 2005 and 2014, Vitol bribed Brazilian officials at the country’s state-owned oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), in exchange for confidential Petrobras pricing and “competitor information.” The firm also bribed other Petrobras officials to win fuel contracts, holding “staged negotiations,” while several co-conspirators used alias email accounts and code names to communicate. Vitol hid the scheme by using intermediaries and a fake company that moved the payments to offshore accounts before directing them to Petrobras officials.
Vitol also tried to bribe Ecuadorian and Mexican officials to retain oil business in the countries, Justice said. The firm admitted it agreed to pay more than $2 million in bribes to those officials between 2015 and 2020. The scheme included “sham consulting agreements” in which Vitol created fake invoices for the “purported consulting services.”
Vitol’s penalties include a $135 million fine from Justice and a $16 million penalty from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Justice also said Vitol agreed to “disgorge” more than $12.7 million to the CFTC. Justice said it will credit $45 million of its $135 million fine against the amount that Vitol will pay Brazilian authorities for the crimes. In related cases, Justice charged a Houston-based former Petrobras official, a Vitol trader allegedly involved in the Ecuador scheme, and an intermediary involved in the Brazil scheme.