UPDATE 1-U.S. charges Connecticut trader with bribery regarding Brazil's Petrobras
(Adds comment from trader's lawyer, paragraph 7)
By Jonathan Stempel and Sabrina Valle
Feb 17 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday unveiled corruption charges against a Connecticut oil and gas trader and a second man over their alleged roles in a bribery scheme to win business from Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras .
The Department of Justice said that between 2010 and 2018, Glenn Oztemel, 64, of Westport, Connecticut, and Eduardo Innecco, 73, a Brazilian-Italian oil and gas broker, paid bribes to Brazilian officials to help two Connecticut trading companies secure contracts and learn confidential details about Petrobras' fuel oil business.
According to a seven-count indictment, the defendants used personal email accounts and encrypted messaging apps to conceal the scheme, particularly regarding information received from Rodrigo Berkowitz, a former Petrobras fuel trader in Houston.
The defendants also used coded language such as "breakfast" and "breakfast servings" to refer to bribes and bribe amounts, as well as fictitious names like when Innecco called himself "Spencer Kazisnaf," the indictment said.
Both defendants were charged in New Haven, Connecticut federal court with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy, and could face decades in prison if convicted.
Oztemel, formerly of Stamford, Connecticut-based Freepoint Commodities, was arrested in Florida on Wednesday, and released on $3 million bond after a Thursday hearing in Miami.
“Throughout his over 40-year career in the oil industry, Glenn Oztemel has conducted himself with integrity and has had a spotless record," his lawyer Nelson Boxer said. "He denies the allegations, and we look forward to clearing his good name."
Innecco is at large.
Before retiring in 2020, Oztemel worked for Freepoint as Fuel Oil Book Head for U.S. operations, while Innecco performed consulting work there.
Brazilian authorities investigated Freepoint employees as part of Operation Car Wash, a wide-ranging seven-year investigation into suspected bribery involving Petrobras.
Berkowitz told those authorities he tipped Freepoint employees about how much rivals were bidding when Petrobras auctioned fuels, enabling Freepoint to submit slightly higher bids but without overbidding.
Freepoint has not been charged. In a statement, it said it "will not tolerate corruption or illegal business practices," and the alleged misconduct violated Freepoint's policies and commitment to following the law.
Berkowitz pleaded guilty in February 2019 to a money laundering conspiracy charge. His sentencing is scheduled for April 27 in Brooklyn federal court. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Sabrina Valle in Houston Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
