According to DoJ, the former managing director and vice chairman of Julius Baer pleaded guilty on August 22, 2018, for his role in a $1.2 Billion international scheme to launder funds embezzled from Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).
As part of his plea, Krull admitted that in his position with the Swiss bank, he attracted private clients, particularly clients from Venezuela, to the bank. In this role, Krull’s clients included Francisco Convit Guruceaga, who was indicted on money laundering charges on Aug. 16, 2018. Krull’s clients also included three unnamed conspirators described in the Aug. 16, 2018 indictment.
Krull admitted that the conspiracy began in December 2014 with a currency exchange scheme that was designed to embezzle around $600 million from PDVSA, obtained through bribery and fraud, and the conspirators’ efforts to launder a portion of the proceeds of that scheme.
By May 2015, the conspiracy had doubled in amount to $1.2 billion embezzled from PDVSA. PDVSA is Venezuela’s primary source of income and foreign currency (namely, U.S. Dollars and Euros). Krull joined the conspiracy in or around 2016, he admitted, when a co-conspirator contacted him to launder the proceeds of a PDVSA foreign-exchange embezzlement scheme. Ultimately, Krull joined the conspiracy to launder $1.2 billion worth of funds that were embezzled from PDVSA, he admitted.
Krull and Members of the Money Laundering Conspiracy Used Miami, Florida Real Estate and Sophisticated False Investment Schemes to Conceal That the $1.2 Billion Was in Fact Embezzled from PDVSA.
Read more at: Tax Times blog
