Frank Roberto Chatburn Ripalda is a dual U.S. and Ecuadorian citizen. Jose Larrea, a U.S. citizen, was a U.S.-based financial advisor.
Arturo Escobar Dominguez, an Ecuadorian citizen, was a former business management coordinator at Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador (“PetroEcuador”), Ecuador’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company.
Marcelo Reyes Lopez, an Ecuadorian citizen, was a former in-house attorney and general coordinator of contracts for refining management at PetroEcuador.
Armengol Alfonso Cevallos Diaz, an Ecuadorian citizen, was the creator of O&G International Supplies, which served as a shell company for receiving bribes.
Jose Melquiades Cisneros Alarcon, an Ecuadorian citizen and a U.S. permanent resident, was the director of O&G International Supplies, which served as a shell company for receiving bribes.
PetroEcuador was an Ecuadoran state-owned oil company. Galileo was an Ecuadorian company that provided services in the oil and gas industry, including to PetroEcuador.
According to the DOJ, Ripalda and his co-conspirators made corrupt payments to PetroEcuador officials to retain and obtain contracts for Galileo. Ripalda and Larrea were involved in a money laundering scheme to conceal the payments.
Ripalda allegedly set up a Panamanian shell company, Denfield Investments, to funnel bribe payments, and helped two PetroEcuador officials set up offshore shell corporations and Swiss bank accounts to conceal payments. Larrea wired more than $1 million from his own U.S.-based bank account to several other U.S.-based bank accounts to conceal payments. Larrea also created false and back-dated documents on behalf of Galileo.
The DOJ alleged that from approximately 2012 to 2014, Dominguez and Lopez laundered the proceeds from bribe payments. The DOJ further alleged that from approximately 2012 to 2015, Diaz and Alarcon set up and executed wire transfers from U.S.-based bank accounts to intermediary shell companies for the ultimate benefit of PetroEcuador officials.
On April 20, 2018, the DOJ charged Ripalda and Larrea with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, one count of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of money laundering.
On September 11, 2018, Larrea pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and agreed to forfeit $53,781. On November 27, 2018, Larrea was sentenced to twenty-seven months in prison and two years of supervised release. On October 11, 2019 Ripalda pleaded guilty, and on December 19, 2019, Ripalda was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $40,000.
On February 20, 2018, the DOJ charged Dominguez with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. On March 28, 2018, Dominguez pleaded guilty. On June 6, 2018, Dominguez was sentenced to 48 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
On October 24, 2017, the DOJ charged Lopez with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. On April 10, 2018, Lopez pleaded guilty. On July 23, 2018, Lopez was sentenced to 53 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and fined $30,000.
On May 9, 2019, the DOJ charged each Diaz and Alarcon with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and seven counts of money laundering (under different sections of the U.S. Code). On August 19, 2019, Alarcon entered into a plea agreement. On February 19, 2020, Alarcon was sentenced to 20 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Diaz pleaded guilty on January 23, 2020 to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Sentencing is currently pending.