The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday that it was charging three Colombians and two Venezuelans for money laundering in connection with a Venezuela bribery scheme. The individuals allegedly laundered the proceeds of inflated contracts through a Venezuelan state-owned food and medicine distribution program called CLAP. In order to operate through CLAP, DOJ said the individuals bribed Venezuelan government officials to obtain the contract. The defendants were: Alvaro Pulido Vargas, 57, of Colombia; Jose Gregorio Vielma-Mora, 55, of Venezuela; Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez, 32, of Colombia; Carlos Rolando Lizcano Manrique, 50, of Colombia; and Ana Guillermo Luis, 49, of Venezuela. “The defendants and their co-conspirators knowingly inflated the costs of the contracts to pay the bribes and unjustly enrich themselves,” said the Justice Department. The money laundering began around July 2015 and continued until at least 2020, said the Justice Department. The indictment stated that the five individuals and their co-conspirators received …
RSS Feed | The Epoch Times