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Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, Money Laundering, New York 2023
BROOKLYN, NY – Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares (Luis Martinelli Linares) has been extradited from Guatemala to the United States on an indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn charging him and his brother, Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares (Ricardo Martinelli Linares), with money laundering offenses for their roles in a bribery and money laundering scheme involving Odebrecht S.A. (Odebrecht), a Brazil-based global construction conglomerate.
Luis Martinelli Linares is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow before United States Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry.
“The extradition of Luis Martinelli Linares to the Eastern District of New York is a significant first step in holding him accountable for allegedly laundering millions of dollars in bribe payments through bank accounts in New York and elsewhere,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.
The overarching Odebrecht scheme involved the payment of more than $700 million in bribes to government officials, public servants, political parties, and others in Panama and other countries around the world to obtain and retain business for the company.
Luis Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Martinelli Linares allegedly conspired with others to launder approximately $28 million in bribe payments made by and at the direction of Odebrecht to a then high-ranking government official in Panama (Panama Government Official), who was a close relative of the defendants.
On December 21, 2016, Odebrecht pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to a criminal information charging it with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for its involvement in the bribery and money laundering scheme.
The FBI will use all available resources to put an end to this type of corrupt behavior, according to FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll.
The successful extradition of Luis Martinelli Linares demonstrates the United States commitment to work with international partners to pursue, capture, and extradite those who use the U.S. financial system to further their corrupt schemes and launder illicit funds, stated Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Public Corruption|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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