Former Bolivian minister Arturo Murillo has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for participating in a money-laundering scheme for paying bribes to win a contract for a US company, the US Department of Justice said Wednesday (4).
Murillo, 58, was a government minister during the interim period of Jeanne Anez, who, according to Bolivian justice, became president in 2019 unconstitutionally, after Evo Morales resigned over allegations of electoral fraud.
The former minister “received at least $532,000 in bribes from a Florida-based company”. In return, he bid on a nearly $5.6 million contract to supply tear gas and non-lethal equipment to the Bolivian Ministry of Defense. The judge said in a statement, citing court documents.
Murillo and his accomplices laundered the proceeds through the US financial system, including using bank accounts in Miami, Florida where the former minister allegedly received $130,000 in cash.
Murillo pleaded guilty in October 2022, and his accomplices Sergio Rodrigo Mendez, Luis Bergman, Brian Bergman and Philip Lichenfeld were already convicted in June.
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