By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -Five individuals have been charged with money laundering in connection with an alleged Venezuela bribery scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday.
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida charged three Colombian nationals and two Venezuelans, the DOJ said.
The indictment alleges that the five laundered the proceeds of a bribery scheme to obtain and retain inflated contracts through a Venezuelan state-run food and medicine distribution program known as CLAP.
Between 2015 and at least 2020, they conspired with others to launder the money from bank accounts in Antigua, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere through U.S. bank accounts, the DOJ said.
They received about $1.6 billion from the Republic of Venezuela and transferred about $180 million through or to the United States, the DOJ said.
The five are: Alvaro Pulido Vargas, 57, of Colombia; Jose Gregorio Vielma-Mora, 55, of Venezuela; Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez, 32, of Colombia; Carlos Rolando Lizcano Manrique, 50, of Colombia; and Ana Guillermo Luis, 49, of Venezuela, the DOJ said.
Representatives of the individuals could not immediately be contacted for comment by Reuters.
If convicted, they each face a maximum total penalty of 100 years in prison, the department said.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
