Bob Van Voris
The former chief executive officer of Direct Access Partners LLC and a former partner at the New York-based broker-dealer were charged with operating a bribery scheme involving Venezuela’s state bank.
Benito Chinea, the former CEO, and Joseph DeMeneses were charged with conspiracy, money laundering and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act, in a 15-count indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court. The men are scheduled to appear in court this afternoon.
Chinea and DeMeneses are accused of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Maria de los Angeles Gonzalez de Hernandez, a vice president of finance at Banco de Desarrollo Economico y Social de Venezuela, or BANDES, in exchange for the bank’s bond-trading business.
Direct Access former Senior Vice President Tomas Alberto Clarke Bethancourt and Ernesto Lujan, a former managing partner, pleaded guilty in the scheme in August. Both agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a bid for leniency when they’re sentenced.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty in November. She is also cooperating with the government.
Source: bloomberg
