A federal grand jury in the District of Connecticut returned a superseding indictment charging a Connecticut-based oil and gas trader for his role in an alleged scheme to pay bribes to Brazilian officials to win contracts with Brazil’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (Petrobras).
According to court documents, Gary Oztemel, 66, was the owner and president of Oil Trade & Transport S.A. (OTT) and the owner of Petro Trade Services Inc. (Petro Trade), both of which operated in Connecticut. From 2010 through 2018, Gary Oztemel, his brother Glenn Oztemel, Brazil-based intermediary Eduardo Innecco, and others allegedly paid bribes to Petrobras officials for their assistance in helping two Connecticut-based trading companies and OTT obtain and retain business with Petrobras.
As part of the scheme, a Petrobras official provided Gary Oztemel, Glenn Oztemel, Innecco, and others with confidential information regarding Petrobras’ fuel oil business. Gary Oztemel also used his company Petro Trade to conceal the proceeds of the scheme.
The original charges against Glenn Oztemel and Innecco were unsealed on Feb. 15. In addition to the original charges against Glenn Oztemel and Innecco, the superseding indictment charges Gary Oztemel with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of money laundering.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy to violate the FCPA charge, a maximum of 20 years in prison for money laundering conspiracy and the first money laundering charge, and a maximum of 10 years in prison for the second money laundering charge.
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