Man pleads guilty for role in Venezuelan oil bribery scheme


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

HOUSTON (AP) — A businessman accused of bribing Venezuelan oil company officials has pleaded guilty in an alleged multibillion-dollar graft scheme.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston says Jose Manuel Gonzalez Testino pleaded guilty Wednesday to three charges, including one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Prosecutors say Gonzalez paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to officials representing Venezuela's state-owned-and-controlled oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, and its Houston-based subsidiary in order to secure contracts.

The 49-year-old Gonzalez is a dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen from Miami. He is set to be sentenced Aug. 28.

Prosecutors say 21 individuals have been charged in the case and Gonzalez is the 16th to plead guilty.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

Business
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button