A Venezeuelan-Italian businessman allegedly laundered millions of dollars through Florida bank accounts in an international bribery scheme that bilked the Venezuelan government’s oil businesses to the tune of $160 million. The U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday that it had charged Natalino D’Amato, 61, with conspiracy to commit money laundering, seven counts of money laundering, and other financial crimes. From 2013 to 2017, D’Amato bribed employees of the Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. to steer vastly inflated contracts to his own companies, eventually bringing in more than $160 million, federal prosecutors say. D’Amato allegedly laundered the bribes and the contract money through bank accounts in South Florida.
