CFTC Announces Multiple Whistleblower Awards Totaling More than $45 Million

Washington, DC - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced multiple whistleblower awards totaling more than $45 million. The awards demonstrate the growing success of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Program, in particular the increasing volume and complexity of incoming whistleblower submissions.  Just last month, the CFTC announced an award of approximately $30 million to one whistleblower and the first award was made by the program to a whistleblower living in a foreign country. read more »

Business Executive Arrested on Foreign Bribery Charges in Connection With Venezuela Bribery Scheme

A dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen who controlled multiple companies was arrested yesterday on foreign bribery charges for conspiring to make, and making, corrupt payments to an official of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), in exchange for favorable business treatment with PDVSA. read more »

Argentine Power Generator Becomes First Casualty of Graft Probe

Argentine power generator Albanesi SA has become the first corporate casualty of a federal corruption investigation after its chairman was arrested on Wednesday, forcing the company to cancel a planned bond sale.

The debt deal was scrapped after Armando Loson, Albanesi’s chairman and head of the family that is the controlling shareholder, was detained together with 10 business executives and former public employees as part of an alleged graft case that is still under seal. The company’s $336 million of bonds due in 2023 tumbled to trade as low as 87.88 cents on the dollar, down from par earlier last month, according to Trace data compiled across several smaller trades on Wednesday. read more »