Miami-Based Financial Adviser Pleads Guilty to FCPA Violations
A Miami-based financial adviser pleaded guilty to money laundering charges after violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 11 press release. Frank Roberto Chatburn Ripalda, a citizen of the U.S. and Ecuador, tried to bribe officials at Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (PetroEcuador), Ecuador’s state-owned oil company, the press release said. Chatburn faces a 20-year maximum prison sentence.
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Chatburn said he conspired with an oil contractor to pay about $3 million in bribes to Ecuadorian government officials to obtain contacts with PetroEcuador. He used shell companies and bank accounts in the U.S., Panama, the Cayman Islands, Curacao and Switzerland “to conceal the bribe payments and to promote the scheme,” the Justice Department said. Chatburn also said he conspired with an Ecuadorian government official and used shell companies to hide bribe payments to officials from Odebrecht S.A., a Brazilian construction conglomerate.