Hernandez, Beech Plead Guilty in Venezuela PDVSA Bribery Scheme

Two Texas and Florida-based energy executives have pleaded guilty to orchestrating a sprawling foreign bribery scheme targeting Venezuela’s state oil giant, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). Juan Jose Hernandez Comerma, 51, of Weston, Florida, and Charles Quintard Beech III, 46, of Katy, Texas, admitted in Houston federal court to funneling bribes through shell companies and lavish gifts to PDVSA officials in exchange for no-bid contracts and favorable treatment on multimillion-dollar energy deals.

Hernandez, a former general manager and partial owner of a Florida energy firm, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive FCPA violation. Beech, owner of multiple Texas energy companies, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA. Both entered their pleas before U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller of the Southern District of Texas. Sentencing is scheduled for July 14, 2017.

Court filings detail how Hernandez conspired with fellow U.S.-based businessmen Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas and Roberto Enrique Rincon Fernandez to bribe PDVSA purchasing analysts, including Alfonzo Eliezer Gravina Munoz. From 2008 to 2012, Hernandez admitted to arranging recreational travel, entertainment, and cash kickbacks tied to a percentage of contracts awarded—ensuring Shiera’s and Rincon’s firms landed prime spots on PDVSA bidding panels. Shiera and Rincon previously pleaded guilty in March and June 2016, respectively.

Beech’s admissions stretch from 2011 to 2012, during which he paid bribes to multiple PDVSA officials, including Gravina, to manipulate the bidding process and expedite payments on completed contracts. He also admitted to conspiring with others to launder bribe proceeds through offshore financial transactions designed to conceal the source, nature, and ownership of illicit funds—actions that further eroded transparency in Venezuela’s already compromised energy sector.

Gravina, the key PDVSA analyst at the center of the bribery web, pleaded guilty in December 2015 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and making false statements on his federal tax returns by failing to report millions in bribe income. Including Hernandez and Beech, eight individuals have now pleaded guilty in this expanding U.S. Department of Justice probe into systemic corruption at PDVSA. All defendants have agreed to forfeit proceeds tied to their criminal schemes.

The investigation is being led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) in Houston, with support from the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Pearson and Robert S. Johnson, alongside Trial Attorneys Aisling O’Shea and Jeremy R. Sanders of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section, are prosecuting. Forfeiture matters are handled by AUSAs Kristine Rollinson and Vincent Carroll. International cooperation included the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.