Houston trader sentenced for bribes

Javier Aguilar, a 52-year-old Mexican national working for oil company Vitol in Houston, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for paying over $1 million in bribes to officials in Mexico and Ecuador.

Bribes tied to $500M in contracts

The bribery schemes were connected to more than $500 million in oil and gas contracts. Aguilar worked as a trader at Vitol's Houston office between 2015 and 2020.

Ecuador fuel-oil contract scheme

Aguilar and co-conspirators bribed senior Ecuadorian government officials to secure a $300 million fuel-oil contract for Vitol. They used a Middle Eastern state-owned entity as an intermediary to bypass restrictions on private company contracts.

Mexico ethane gas bribery

Aguilar paid approximately $600,000 in bribes to officials at PEMEX Procurement International to secure contracts for Vitol to supply hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ethane gas to Mexico's state oil company.

Shell companies hid the bribes

Aguilar and co-conspirators concealed the schemes using fake contracts, sham invoices, and shell companies in Curaçao, Panama and the Cayman Islands. He also used alias email accounts to communicate with other conspirators.

Convicted, then pleaded guilty

A federal jury convicted Aguilar in February 2024 of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering related to the Ecuador scheme. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges involving the Mexico scheme.

Seven co-conspirators also pleaded

Seven of Aguilar's co-conspirators, including three foreign government officials, pleaded guilty for their roles in the schemes. They collectively agreed to forfeit more than $63 million in proceeds.

Aguilar must forfeit $7.13M

Aguilar was ordered to forfeit approximately $7.13 million and pay a $100,000 fine. He will serve 48 months in federal prison and face deportation to Mexico after his sentence.

Vitol already paid $135M penalty

In December 2020, Vitol admitted to bribing officials in Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil. The company entered a deferred prosecution agreement and paid $135 million in combined penalties to the Department of Justice, CFTC and Brazilian authorities.

Pattern of Texas PEMEX cases

Aguilar's prosecution adds to other federal investigations involving Mexico's state-owned energy industry. In 2025, federal authorities charged two Houston-area residents in an unrelated PEMEX scheme involving $150,000 in bribes for $2.5 million in contracts.

Government signals deterrence message

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the sentence demonstrates the government's commitment to pursuing corruption in international commodities markets. Officials vowed to continue targeting those who use the U.S. financial system to facilitate international corruption.

“This sentence sends a powerful message of deterrence to those who might be tempted to engage in similar bribery schemes.”