Former CEO risks 40 years in prison after being accused of cash bribes at hotels, airports and car parks
Former Vitol Group oil trader Javier Aguilar could face up to 40 years in prison and will forfeit more than $7.1 million in two U.S. bribery cases after pleading guilty in federal court.
Aguilar, 50, was convicted in Brooklyn, New York, in February of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to bribe Mexican and Ecuadorian officials, but he pleaded guilty to a second set of charges on Wednesday, merging the two cases, federal prosecutors said in a statement. declareThe move allows U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano to impose sentences in both prosecutions.
In both cases — the second was originally filed in Texas — Aguilar is charged with conspiracy, foreign bribery and money laundering. In Brooklyn, prosecutors allege he handed out cash at hotels, airports and even parking lots as part of a scheme to win $500 million in business.
“With today’s guilty plea, the defendant acknowledges his role in rampant corruption in international commodity markets and his violation of laws that apply to everyone to unjustly enrich a few,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
A five-count Texas indictment accuses Aguilar, a former oil executive and trader, of conspiring to bribe Mexican officials working for PEMEX International shopping.
Ilene Jaroslaw, Aguilar’s attorney, said the plea resolves all pending charges against her client.
“Mr. Aguilar accepts responsibility for his role at Vitol, and we are confident that Judge Vitaliano will deliver a fair sentence,” Jaroslaw said in a statement.
Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, agreed in 2020 to a $160 million settlement with the DOJ over allegations that the company paid bribes in three countries. Aguilar was charged in 2020 with orchestrating a five-year bribery and money laundering scheme while working at Vitol’s Houston subsidiary.
The Texas case is US v. Aguilar, 23-cr-00335, United States District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
