Guilty plea in Venezuela bribery case

An employee of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), Alfonso Eliezer Gravina Munoz, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice in US District Court for the Southern District of Texas in connection with the ongoing PDVSA bribery investigation into payments to government officials in Venezuela.   Gravina previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and to making false statements on his US income tax return.  As a condition of that plea, Gravina agreed to cooperate in the US investigation of the PDVSA bribery scheme.  US authorities claim that nevertheless he concealed facts about the bribery and informed a co-conspirator about the investigation, leading to the destruction of evidence by the co-conspirator, and today’s guilty plea to conspiracy to obstruct justice.  Gravina is the 15th individual to plead guilty in the PDVSA case.

DOJ press release