Venezuelan Businessman Arrested for Bribery Scheme Involving PdVSA

A Venezuelan business executive was indicted on money laundering charges for his alleged involvement in a bribery scheme to benefit officials at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., the Justice Department said Nov. 25. Natalino D’Amato allegedly worked with others to launder funds from the bribery scheme to and from bank accounts in Florida, including for joint ventures controlled by U.S.-sanctioned PdVSA. Companies controlled by D’Amato received about $160 million from PdVSA’s joint ventures, and D’Amato used a portion of that money to bribe Venezuelan officials, the Justice Department alleged. The U.S. is seeking to seize about $45 million belonging to bank accounts involved with the scheme.