Empresario de Florida Fernando Ardila se declaró culpable en Venezuela de esquema de soborno de Pdvsa
El propietario de varias empresas con sede en Florida se declaró culpable el miércoles de cargos de sobornos, en un complot para ganar contratos con la petrolera estatal de Venezuela.
Fernando Ardila Rueda, de 49 años, de Miami se declaró culpable en un Tribunal Federal de Houston por un cargo de conspiración para violar la Ley de Prácticas Corruptas en el Extranjero, y un cargo por violar la FCPA.
La sentencia está programada para el 8 de febrero del próximo año.
Ardila conspiró con dos empresarios venezolanos que operan en los Estados Unidos, para sobornar a los analistas de compras en Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. o Pdvsa. 
Los dos hombres fueron Abraham José Shiera Bastidas, el ex presidente de Tradequip Services & Marine, y Roberto Enrique Rincón Fernández, el gerente de Vertix Instrumentos.
Shiera se declaró culpable en marzo de 2016 de un cargo de conspiración para violar la Ley de Prácticas Corruptas en el Extranjero y cometer fraude electrónico y un cargo de violación de la FCPA.
Rincón se declaró culpable en junio del año pasado, de un cargo de conspiración para violar la FCPA, un cargo de violar la FCPA, y un cargo de hacer declaraciones falsas en su declaración de impuestos federales de 2010.
Rincón suministró a Pdvsa US $500 millones en equipos de petróleo al año, “convirtiéndose en uno de los contratistas más importantes de la empresa petrolera estatal, según ex altos ejecutivos de la empresa petrolera”, dijo The Wall Street Journal.
Ardila fue un director de ventas y parte propietaria de varias de las compañías de Shiera entre 2008 y 2014.
Él admitió en su declaración el miércoles a proporcionar entretenimiento y ofrecer sobornos a los funcionarios de PDVSA. El monto de los sobornos se basó en el valor de los contratos que los funcionarios ayudaron ganar a las compañías de Shiera.
Diez personas hasta ahora se han declarado culpables y están esperando por ser sentenciadas, como parte de una investigación estadounidense más amplia sobre sobornos en Pdvsa.
Acá el texto en inglés:
Florida businessman pleads guilty in Venezuela PDVSA bribery scheme
By Richard L. Cassin |Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 8:08AM
The part owner of several Florida-based businesses pleaded guilty Wednesday to foreign bribery charges in a plot to win contracts from Venezuela’s state oil company.
Fernando Ardila Rueda, 49, of Miami pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and one count of violating the FCPA.
Sentencing is scheduled for February 8 next year.
Ardila conspired with two Venezuelan businessmen based in the United States to bribe purchasing analysts at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. or PDVSA.
The two men were Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, the former president of Tradequip Services & Marine, and Roberto Enrique Rincon Fernandez, the manager of Vertix Instrumentos.
Shiera pleaded guilty in March 2016 to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and commit wire fraud and one count of violating the FCPA.
Rincon pleaded guilty in June last year to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, one count of violating the FCPA, and one count of making false statements on his 2010 federal income tax return.
Rincon supplied PDVSA with $500 million in oil equipment a year, “becoming one of the state oil firm’s most important contractors, according to former senior executives of the oil firm,” the Wall Street Journal said.
Ardila was a sales director and part owner of several of Shiera’s companies from 2008 to 2014.
He admitted in his plea Wednesday to providing entertainment and offering bribes to PDVSA officials. The amount of the bribes was based on the value of contracts the officials helped Shiera’s companies win.
Ten individuals have now pleaded guilty and are wating to be sentenced as part of a wider U.S. investigation into graft at PDVSA.
One of the PDVSA officials who took bribes was Alfonzo Eliezer Gravina Munoz. He pleaded guiltyin December 2015 in federal court in Houston to conspiracy to launder bribe money and making false statements on his 2010 U.S. federal income tax return.
Two other former PDVSA employees — Jose Luis Ramos Castillo, 38, Christian Javier Maldonado Barillas, 39, both from Katy, Texas — have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Moises Abraham Millan Escobar, 32, of Katy, Texas was Shiera’s former employee. He pleaded guilty earlier to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA for bribing PDVSA officials.
In January this year, Juan Jose Hernandez Comerma, 51, of Weston, Florida pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and one count of violating the FCPA.
Hernandez admitted he conspired with Shiera and Rincon to pay bribes to PDVSA purchasing analysts.
Charles Quintard Beech III, 46, of Katy, Texas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA. He owns several Texas-based companies.
From 2011 to 2012, Beech bribed several PDVSA officials in exchange for help putting his companies on PDVSA bidding panels and getting paid for previously awarded PDVSA contracts