Case 1:18-cr-20596-DPG Document 19 Entered on FLSD Docket 09/14/2018 Page 1 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA C ase No. 18-CR-20596-D PG UNITED STATES OF AM ERICA VS. JUAN ANDRES BAQUERIZO ESCOBAR, Defendant. FACTUAL PROFFER IN SUPPORT OF GUILTY PLEA The U nited States Departm ent of Justice, Crim inal Division, Fraud Sed ion and M oney Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the U nited States A ttorney's O ffice for the Southem District of Florida (collectively, the kr overnmenf'), and the Defendant, Juan Andres Baquerizo Escobar (çthe defendant') stipulate and agree that the information stated herein is tnle and accurate and a suffcient basis for the defendant's plea of guilty to the m oney laundering conspiracy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sedion 1956(h) charged in the instant case. Had this m atter proceeded to trial, the defendant stipulates and agrees that the G overnm ent w ould have proven the facts a leged below beyond a reasonable doubt and forfeiture a legations set forth in his crim inal lnfonnation by a preponderance of the evidence. Empresa Pûblica de Hidrocarburos de1 Ecuador (çpetroecuador') is the state-owned and state-controlled oil com pany in Ecuador. From in or around 2003 through in or around 2016, the defendant, a citizen of Ecuador who is currently located in the United States, owned and controlled an Ecuadorian company that provided selwices in the oil industry, including to PetroEcuador. From in or around 2012 and continuing until at least 2016, the defendant and others, including United States citizens, knowingly and willfully used the mails and means and
Case 1:18-cr-20596-DPG Document 19 Entered on FLSD Docket 09/14/2018 Page 2 of 5 instnlm entalities of interstate com m erce to corruptly prom ise to pay, and to pay, approxim ately $1,720,000 in bribes to PetroEcuador ofticials in order to influence those officials in their official capacity and to secure an im proper advantage for com panies associated with the defendant in order to assist those companies in obtaining and retaining business with PetroEcuador (the ilegal bribery scheme'). From in or around 2012 through at least 2016, the defendant know ingly and w illfully conspired w ith others, including a PetroEcuador ofticial w ho received bribes as part of the illegal bribery scheme (tpetroecuador Official A'), to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ow nership, and control of the proceeds of the ilegal bribery schem e and to prom ote the can-ying on of the illegal bribery schem e. In furtherance of the conspiracy, and w ith the intent to conceal and disguise the proceeds of the ilegal bribery schem e, as we l as to prom ote the ilegal bribery schem e, the defendant and his co-conspirators, am ong other things, obtained shell com panies in the Baham as and Panam a, opened bank accounts in Panam a and Sw itzerland in the nam es of those shel com panies, and transferred the proceeds of the ilegal bribery schem e from those she l com pany bank accounts into Panam a-based bank accounts held in the nam e of shel com panies controlled by PetroEcuador Ofticial A. For exam ple, betw een in or about February 2014 and N ovem ber 2015, the defendant caused six wire transfers totaling approxim ately $ 1,123,678 to be m ade from bank accounts in Panam a and Sw itzerland held in the nam es of shell com panies he controlled into bank accounts in Panam a held in the nam e of shell com panies controlled by PetroEcuador Official A. ln addition, betw een in or about A ugust 2015 and in or about Decem ber 2015, the defendant directed other individuals to m ake two wire transfers totaling approximately $400,000 from balzk accounts held
Case 1:18-cr-20596-DPG Document 19 Entered on FLSD Docket 09/14/2018 Page 3 of 5 in the nam es of com panies they controlled into Panam anian bank accounts of shel com panies contro led by PetroEcuador Official A. ln addition, in or about January 2016, PetroEcuador O fficial A asked the defendant w hether the defendant had access to an account that could receive m oney for PetroEcuador Ofticial A's benefit. At the tim e, the defendant w as in the process of acquiring a shell com pany in Panam a (tshe11 Company A') and the defendant asked the individual negotiating the sale of Shel Com pany A w hether the defendant could have funds sent to Shell Com pany A's Panam anian bank account. The individual agreed, and on or about Febnlary 1, 2016, the defendant coordinated the transfer of approxim ately $500,000 into Shel Com pany A's Panamanian balzk account. The defendant understood at the tim e of the transfer that the m oney w as blibe proceeds from another company to PetroEcuador Ofticial A. ln furtherance of the m oney laundering conspiracy, and w ith the intent to conceal and disguise the proceeds of the illegal bribery schem e, as w ell as to prom ote the illegal bribery schem e, the defendant and his co-conspirators, also caused proceeds of the ilegal bribery schem e to be sent to the Southern District of Florida. In or about February 2016, PetroEcuador Official A directed the defendant to send approxim ately $600,000 of the proceeds of the illegal bribery schem e to a real estate IOTA tnzst account in the Southelm District of Florida. PetroEcuador Official A and Arturo Escobar D om inguez, a PetroEcuador O fticial at the tim e, advised the defendant that the $600,000 would be for the benefit of another PetroEcuador Ofticial (tpetroecuador Ofticial B'). ln order to conceal and disguise the payment of the approximately $600,000, and to promote the ilegal bribery scheme: (i) on or about February 22, 2016, the defendant directed a wire transfer of approximately $400,000 from Shell Company A's balzk account located in Panam a to the real estate IO TA tnzst account in the Southenz D istrict of Florida;
Case 1:18-cr-20596-DPG Document 19 Entered on FLSD Docket 09/14/2018 Page 4 of 5 (ii) in or about February 2016, the defendant caused a payment of approximately $200,000 to be m ade from a bank account located in the United States to an account in the Southern D istrict of Florida that was held in the name of a company associated with an individual who helped the defendant transfer cash out of Ecuador (the çlntenuediary U.S. Bank Accounf'l; and (i) on or about M arch l, 2016, the defendant caused a wire transfer of approxim ately $200,000 to be made from the Interm ediary U.S. Bank A ccount into the real estate IOTA trust account in the Southern District of Florida. The approxim ately $600,000 that the defendant sent to the real estate IOTA trust account w as used to purchase a condom inium in the Southern District of Florida for the benefit of PetroEcuador O fficial B. The defendant knew at the time he transferred the funds to, from, and through bank accounts in the United States, Panama, and Switzerland that the money was the proceeds of unlaw ful activity and that the transfers w ere intended to prom ote the illegal bribery schem e. The defendant also, know ing that his conduct w as w rong and unlaw ful, prom oted, and agreed w ith others to prom ote, the illegal bribery schem e, and concealed and disguised, and agreed w ith others to conceal and disguise, the nature, source, location, ownership, and control of the unlaw ful proceeds by, am ong other things, causing transactions involving the unlaw ful proceeds, and agreeing to cause transactions involving the unlaw ful proceeds, to be m ade to, from, and through bank accounts located in Panam a, Sw itzerland, and the United States, including bank accounts held in the nam e of shell com panies. Ilate: t;'-' j,/?/-' /, -:ë!:.- jr.- BENJAMW G.GREENBERG UNITED ST ES ATTORNEY
Case 1:18-cr-20596-DPG Document 19 Entered on FLSD Docket 09/14/2018 Page 5 of 5 KAREN ROCHLIN ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY SANDRA L. MOSER ACTING CHIEF, FRAUD SECTION Date: A / t.w I ( L LOR DA LA EA ASSISTANT CHIEF DAVID FUHR KATHERINE RAUT TRIAL ATTORNEYS DEBORAH L. CONNOR CHIE F, MONEY LAUNDERING & ASSET RECOV ERY SECTION Date: q/zlz RANDALL W ARDEN PATRICIA SULZBACH MARY ANN MCCARTHY TRIAL ATTORNEYS Date: Date : ACQ A O,ESQ. TTO EY FOR ENDANT BAQUERIZO / AN A DRESB QU O COBAR EFENDANT