2024-04-18 07:42:39
The United States Prosecutor’s Office seeks to include in the trial of Carlos Pólit, evidence from the case that was also brought in that country against Juan Ribas, former manager of Seguros Sucre.
The notification arrived on March 20, 2024. The United States Attorney’s Office informed the Court of the Southern District of Florida of its intention to present evidence of crimes, misdemeanors or acts from other cases during its argument in the trial against Carlos Pólit, former Ecuadorian comptroller.
Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, this type of evidence is allowed in a trial to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of error or lack of accident.
The Prosecutor’s Office assured that the evidence it intends to present – related to Seguros Sucre – is intrinsic or inextricably intertwined with the money laundering case being pursued against former comptroller Pólit.
In the United States, starting April 8, 2024, Carlos Pólit will be tried for six counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Also for concealing money laundering and participation in monetary transactions of assets derived from criminal activities.
The Seguros Sucre case
According to the initial theory of the case, between 2010 and 2017 – when Pólit was comptroller in Ecuador – he allegedly participated in a scheme to enrich himself by receiving bribes, in addition to laundering the bribes in South Florida with the help of John Pólit, his son. Pólit would have received these bribes from two sources:
A representative of Odebrecht for Pólit’s help to avoid the imposition of large fines on the Brazilian construction company’s projects.
Diego Sanchezan Ecuadorian businessman in the insurance world, for Pólit’s help in obtaining contracts with Seguros Sucre again.
Pólit has already been sentenced in Ecuador for receiving bribes from Odebrecht. However, the alleged bribes related to Seguros Sucre are new.
For this reason, the United States wants to present the testimony of Juan Ribas Domenech, former manager of Seguros Sucre, at the trial. Ribas has already been sentenced in the United States for his involvement in this public company, which is now in the process of liquidation.
According to the announcement by the United States Attorney’s Office, Ribas is expected to testify that, after under his direction Seguros Sucre withdrew contracts from Diego Sánchez, the state company was the subject of multiple audits by the Comptroller’s Office led by Pólit
. Furthermore, Ribas would confirm that he was informed that if he returned the contracts to Diego Sánchez, the audits would disappear. And that, indeed, would have happened after Seguros Sucre re-awarded the contracts to benefit Sánchez. Sánchez is another of the US witnesses in this case. The Prosecutor’s Office of that country expects him to confirm that Pólit instructed him to coordinate with his son, John Pólit, to make a bribe payment of approximately USD 500,000.
The United States intends to present evidence that Sánchez subsequently paid the bribe to a bank account as instructed by Pólit Jr. in December 2015.
Pólit’s plan
In addition, the United States intends to introduce evidence in the Carlos Pólit case about an alleged plan by the former comptroller to receive more bribes. These would come from the owners of an intermediary company in the insurance world. In exchange for those bribes, Pólit would have offered to order Ribas to provide reinsurance business to a London-based company.
This entity used the intermediary company as its representative in Ecuador. The bribe payment, according to the theory of the case, was to be collected by John Pólit.
Regarding this plan, the US prosecution expects Ribas to testify that, around 2016, he received instructions from Pólit to direct a reinsurance contract from the Ecuadorian State to a reinsurance company based in London. Ribas would also testify that shortly thereafter, a representative of the intermediary company introduced Ribas to John Pólit, at a meeting in Miami, Florida.
During this meeting, Pólit Jr. informed Ribas that he was aware that business had been directed to the intermediary company and that he was helping his father collect commissions.
According to that testimony, John Pólit instructed Ribas to inform him once Seguros Sucre paid the premiums for this reinsurance business so that he could deal with the intermediary company.
Later, Pólit Jr. would have called Ribas to meet with him at the Comptroller’s office in Guayaquil. During this meeting, John Pólit would have asked Ribas to confirm whether Seguros Sucre was paying the premiums for the reinsurance business related to the intermediary company. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, this operation is consistent with the modus operandi of Carlos Pólit’s bribery and money laundering operation.
British companies and the intermediary
This is not the first time that companies based in London and an intermediary company appear in the orbit of Seguros Sucre. Only this time there is a new element: Carlos Pólit. In March 2021, Ribas Domenech was sentenced to 51 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to money laundering in the United States. That money came from a bribery scheme that operated in connection with the state insurer.
In those cases, there was already talk of the plan to which Pólit is now linked. The US Justice Department identified two British brokers who paid bribes to at least four Ecuadorian officials to obtain reinsurance contracts in Ecuador.
In November 2023, the Department of Justice of that country reported that it reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited and HW Wood Limited, after paying fines and establishing forfeitures.
According to the agreement documents signed by the two British insurers, an intermediary company introduced executives from Tysers and HW Wood to Ribas Domenech, when he had been appointed president of Seguros Sucre.
This intermediary company is a firm based in Ecuador and Panama, which is not identified by name, but it is mentioned that three Ecuadorians worked there: Esteban Merlo Hidalgo, Christian Pintado García and Lenin Maldonado Matute.
This is Royalty RE. According to the indictment of US prosecutors, between 2013 and 2018, this intermediary company paid bribes of approximately USD 2.8 million for the benefit of Tysers and HW Woods to accounts in Florida, Panama and Switzerland.
By: PRIMICIAS