WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) A former procurement officer with Venezuela's state-owned oil company and resident of the US state of Texas has entered a guilty plea on charges he sought to obstruct an investigation of bribes paid by American companies to Venezuelan officials in order to secure additional deals, the Department of Justice announced in a press release.
"Alfonso Eliezer Gravina Munoz (Gravina), 56, of Katy, Texas, who previously worked for PDVSA [Petroleos de Venezuela] in Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty before US District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt of the Southern District of Texas in Houston to one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding," the release said on Monday.
Despite knowing that US government authorities were investigating corruption at PDVSA, Gravina concealed facts about bribe payments to PDVSA officials in his interviews with government officials, the release said.
Moreover, he passed information about the investigation, which led to the destruction of evidence and attempts of a co-conspirator to flee the United States earlier this year, the release added.
Gravina's plea agreement requires that he cooperates with US investigators, the Justice Department said.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 19, according to the release.
Bribery schemes involving PDVSA have resulted in numerous convictions in the United States in recent months.
