b'laundering of the proceeds of that corruption throughactivities relating to the procurement process at the bank accounts and real estate in Miami, Florida. ThePDVSA Subsidiaries. The DOJ alleges that Fermin investigation revealed nearly $1 billion in payments fromconcealed the nature and recipient of the bribe by the PDVSA Subsidiaries to bank accounts of numeroustransferring the payment to a Florida bank account held Venezuelan contractors in South Florida.in the name of a third party. The DOJ alleges that Leonardo Santilli, a VenezuelanThese enforcement actions are still pending. contractor who controls two companies located in Florida, participated in the money laundering conspiracy. Santilli worked as a broker supplying goodsSEC v. Asante K. Berko, No. 1:20-cv-01789 to the PDVSA Subsidiaries. According to the DOJ,(E.D.N.Y.)Santilli received $146.6 million from PDVSA Subsidiaries through wire transfers to his companies Miami bankOn April 13, 2020, the SEC filed an enforcement action accounts. Santillis companies used less than 30%against a former Goldman Sachs banking executive, of the funds to purchase goods under the contracts.Asante Berko (Berko), for his facilitation of bribery Further, Santillis companies charged markups of uppayments to Ghanaian government officials on behalf of to 500% on the goods they supplied to the PDVSAa client. Berko carried out the scheme while employed Subsidiaries, even though the manufacturers thatwith a UK-based subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. Santilli bought the goods from would have sold theirAccording to the SEC complaint filed in the U.S District goods directly to PDVSA at a faction of the cost.Court for the Eastern District of New York, Berko The DOJ alleges that Santilli used part of the inflatedschemed to bribe various government officials in payments to pay bribes and kickbacks to officials ofGhana so that his client, a Turkish energy company the PDVSA Subsidiaries and to enrich himself and(the Energy Company), would win a contract to build his family. After the DOJ obtained a search warrantand operate an electrical power plant in Ghana. The for Santillis and his alleged co-conspirators emails,complaint alleges that Berko crafted, developed, and the DOJ located a spreadsheet documenting allegedcarried out a bribery scheme whereby the Energy bribe payments. For example, the DOJ alleges that theCompany funneled between $3 million and $4.5 million spreadsheet shows a $101,270 payment to an officialto a Ghana-based intermediary to bribe various govern-at a PDVSA subsidiary on December 22, 2014, and thatment officials. For his assistance, Berko was paid $2 bank records show a transfer of that amount, on thatmillion by his client.day, from one of Santillis companies to a bank accountThe complaint further alleges that Berko and the in Venezuela. As part of its investigation, the DOJ inter- Energy Company planned to pay additional bribes in viewed several confidential witnesses that corroboratedthe future. In 2015, the parent company of the Energy Santillis role in the conspiracy, including an associateCompany contracted to pay the intermediary up to $42 of Santilli who provided another spreadsheet listing 72million over five years for various purported services, all separate bribe payments totaling $7.2 million to officialsof which were determined to be a pretext for the true at the PDVSA Subsidiaries and four officials at a PDVSApurpose of the fee: obtaining additional regulatory subsidiary that acknowledged receiving betweenbenefits for the Energy Company. $15,000 and $1.4 million in bribe payments from Santilli.Goldman Sachs discovered the existence of the inter-The DOJ alleges that Santilli transferred large amountsmediary during a due diligence review of Berkos emails of funds received from the PDVSA Subsidiaries toin 2016. When confronted by internal investigators, personal accounts, including two separate transfersBerko downplayed the intermediary companys role, of $5 million to an account of a British-Virgin Island company controlled by Santilli and his family.2but compliance personnel were not convinced and the matter was referred to legal for further investigation. In a related action filed the same day, the DOJ allegedBerko then allegedly interfered with the internal inves-that Carlos Enrique Urbano Fermin (Fermin) alsotigation by assisting the Energy Companys CEO by participated in the money laundering conspiracy. Thedrafting false and misleading responses to the ques-DOJ claims that Fermin, who owned several companiestions posed by investigators. Goldman Sachs termi-that supplied goods to the PDVSA Subsidiaries, paidnated its involvement in the power plant project in 2016, $100,000 to a lawyer in Venezuela that was a closeand Berko resigned effective March 2017. The SEC associate of a high-ranking Venezuelan prosecutorfound Goldman Sachs response to be appropriate and in exchange for assurances that Fermins companiesstated that the firm would not be charged in connection would not be prosecuted in Venezuela for corruptwith the scheme. 2Between July 16 and August 24, 2018, seventeen warrants issued for bank accounts held by Santilli and his co-conspirators located in the Southern District of Florida. The DOJ seized a total of $44.7 million pursuant to the warrants. 27'