Ecuador’s Former Comptroller General Sentenced to U.S. Prison for International Money Laundering and Bribery
Carlos Ramon Polit takes his oath of office to serve as a financial comptroller of Ecuador. Polit betrayed that trust and is now in prison. Photo credit: La Hora.
On Oct. 1, a federal court sentenced Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, 73, a citizen of Ecuador, to 10 years in federal U.S. prison for crimes related to taking bribes from Odebrecht S.A., a Brazil-based construction conglomerate made up of multiple subsidiaries, according to a DOJ press release. The Southern District Court of Florida also ordered Polit to forfeit $16.5 million.
Polit, indicted on March 24, 2022, had pleaded not guilty to the charges in the six-count indictment but was convicted on April 23 by a federal jury in Miami.
An Official Charged with Preventing Corruption
Polit served as Ecuador’s comptroller general from 2007 to 2017, according to the indictment. Ironically, the creation of the comptroller’s position was to investigate inappropriate funds use, impose fines, and report the misuse of public funds to help prevent fraud and corruption. Polit must have missed that part of the job description.
Odebrecht, the company that bribed Polit, was founded in 1944 and headquartered in Salvador, Brazil. It operates in 27 countries, including Ecuador and the United States. The company had various entities in construction, energy, engineering, utilities, chemicals and real estate, according to information in its indictment. In a separate trial, Odebrecht was found guilty in December 2016 of charges related to bribing various officials throughout South America.
Laundering Money in Florida
Polit was tried in the U.S. because he laundered the proceeds of his bribes in Florida.
Between 2010 and 2014, Polit solicited and received payment from the senior manager of Odebrecht in exchange for preventing Odebrecht from paying hefty construction project-related fines in Ecuador, according to Polit’s indictment. Polit received around $8 million and ensured Odebrecht that a relative in Southern Florida could “make the cash disappear.”
The plan consisted of Polit’s Florida relative registering businesses in the names of his associates, often without the associates’ knowledge. He used the money to renovate real estate and purchase businesses like a dry cleaner and restaurants, prosecutors say. The business concealed Polit’s bribery earnings, benefiting him and his family.
In 2015, Polit also took a $1,010,000 bribe from an Ecuadorean businessman in exchange for help obtaining contracts to do business with Seguros Sucre, according to his indictment.
Odebrecht pleaded guilty to paying bribes to government officials, according to a previous Justice Department statement. They agreed to pay a combined total of $3.5 billion in penalties. Odebrecht agreed to pay a base fine of $3.336 billion with possible added penalties of 3.6 times that amount, according to its plea agreement.
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