On October 29, 2019, Jesus Ramon Veroes, a Venezuelan citizen residing in Florida, was sentenced to fifty-one months in prison for conspiring to bribe officials in the Corporación Eléctrica Nacional S.A. (Corpoelec), the Venezuelan national electrical company.
Veroes pleaded guilty on June 24, 2019, to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Veroes admitted to using his relationship with a high-level Corpoelec official to secure contracts for the supply of transformers, generators and forklifts by Florida businesses owned by Veroes’ co-conspirator, Luis Alberto Chacin Haddad, as well as contracts with another Venezuelan state-owned entity, the Corporación Venezolana de Comercio Exterior (Corpovex). Veroes and Chacin paid kickbacks to two foreign officials from the profits generated by these contracts.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, Veroes agreed to forfeit all property derived from the proceeds of the FCPA conspiracy, including $5.5 million and real property in Doral, Florida.
Veroes’ co-conspirator, Chacin, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced on September 25, 2019 to 51 months in prison.
Criminal Information | Factual Proffer | Judgment | Plea Agreement