Former PdVSA Procurement Officer Sentenced to Prison for Securing Corrupt Contracts

A Texas businessman and former procurement officer for Venezuela’s state-owned and sanctioned energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., was sentenced to 70 months in prison after scheming to secure corrupt PdVSA contracts, the Justice Department said in a Feb. 19 press release. Alfonzo Eliezer Gravina Munoz laundered the proceeds of a bribery scheme involving U.S.-based companies and Venezuelan government officials in exchange for contracts with Citgo Petroleum Corp., a Houston-based subsidiary of PdVSA, the Justice Department said. Munoz was also ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Justice Department said Munoz accepted bribes from U.S. businessmen while working as a purchasing manager at PdVSA, ensuring that those businessmen’s companies were placed on PdVSA bidding panels. Munoz accepted more than $590,000 in bribes between 2007 and 2014 through offshore accounts controlled by the U.S. businessmen, the agency said. Munoz was also convicted of obstructing the U.S.’s investigation into bribes paid by U.S. companies to Venezuelan government officials.