A federal judge in the Southern District of Florida recently sentenced Cristian Particio Pintado Garcia, a dual citizen of Ecuador and Italy, to time served for his role in an alleged bribery scheme involving Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited, H.W. Wood Limited, and Ecuadorian officials with Seguros Sucre S.A. and Seguros Rocafuerte S.A. Seguros Sucre and Seguros Rocafuerte are state-owned and state-controlled insurance companies. Pintado had previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. As part of his guilty plea, Pintado agreed to forfeit approximately $2.7 million in ill-gotten gains. Pintado is one of eight individuals charged by federal prosecutors in connection with the bribery scheme, according to the Department of Justice.
In July 2022, Pintado was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), a substantive violation of the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of engaging in transactions involving criminally derived property. In April 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. In Pintado’s Factual Proffer, he acknowledged that he worked as the general manager for two intermediary companies, acting on behalf of H.W. Wood and Tysers. He further admitted that in his role, he helped H.W. Wood and Tysers obtain and retain business with Seguros Sucre and Seguros Rocafuerte in exchange for commission payments to the intermediary companies. In the Factual Proffer, Pintado admitted to helping to pay approximately $2.8 million in bribes to “several Ecuadorian officials” over the course of several years.
The DOJ had previously reached settlements with H.W. Wood and Tysers in November 2023, when they each signed separate deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”) to resolve allegations that they had conspired to violate the FCPA. In the case of H.W. Wood, the DOJ determined that the appropriate criminal penalty was $22,500,000, but agreed to reduce that figure to $508,000, based on the company’s inability to pay a higher amount. Tysers and AUB Group Limited, the company that acquired Tysers in September 2022, agreed to the imposition of a penalty of $36,000,000, and forfeiture of $10,589,275.
Judgment | Preliminary Order of Forfeiture | Factual Proffer | DOJ Press Release – November 23, 2023 | Information – Tysers and H.W. Wood