US justice has identified at least five former officials who have received payments from commissions collected for oil pre-sale contracts.
This was also reported by the investigation into the corruption network surrounding oil pre-sales contracts other public officials.
US court case documents mention Petroecuador’s former international trade manager, Nilsen Arias, and other officials linked to bribes.
So far, US justice has at least pursued 15 related people with corruption in Petroecuador in several cases. Of these, it remains to be publicly identified five former officials that they would receive bribes through that country.
These people are identified in the Arias case and in the proceedings against oil brokers Antonio and Enrique Peré Ycaza. In other words, they received bribes for oil presale contracts through trading companies Vitol and Gunvor.
American justice You already know the names of the five involved. However, he will not make them public until there is a case against him.
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Petroecuador officials in the Moreno government
In the proceeding against the Peré Ycaza brothers, the financial intermediaries charged with charging commissions per barrel in pre-sale contracts, two senior Petroecuador officials are appointed:
- A high command that worked between 2018 and March 2020.
- A senior manager who has been working since 2017.
The two people are not identified by name. The first, however, coincides with the dates on which Pablo Flores was coach of Petroecuador. Flores is already on trial in Ecuador, for having collected bribes from the Nolimit company.
According to the narrative, in February and April 2019, Gunvor (who acted as an intermediary for Asian companies, which coincides with Petrochina and Unipec) made $ 2.8 million in payments to one of the Peré Ycaza companies.
In June 2019 the Peré moved USD 142,927 from the accounts of that company to the accounts of two Ecuadorian officials, one of whom would be Flores. In June they filed $ 100,000 more.
During his tenure, Flores signed five amending contracts with Petrochina and Unipec.
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The official of the Ministry
An unidentified senior official who has held various positions in the Hydrocarbon Ministry and who worked between 2013 and 2016 appears as one of the people who received bribes from Vitol.
This person would do it worked directly with Nilsen Arias, to “facilitate business” for Vitol. In fact it is he who presented the Peré Ycaza to Javier Aguilar, from Vitol.
Between March 2017 and November 2018, this official received payments that measures 270,000 USD. One of these payments is a $ 30,000 transfer to the account of a person associated with the officer. He has also received payments directly to his account in the United States.
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Two who received payments from Arias
Two other people appear in the case against Arias:
- A senior government official, held between 1997 and 2019.
- A senior official from Petroecuador, during Arias’ tenure.
According to the investigation of the case, Arias received about $ 18 million in bribes, but some of this money was “shared”With these two officials.
Specifically, Arias transferred part of the $ 250,000 that Sargaent Marine (asphalt dealer) paid him in 2014 to the name of the Petroecuador official.
And in another contract, Arias shared with the senior government official part of the $ 818,000 deposited by another unidentified company.
