Telefónica Venezolana to pay over $85 million to resolve foreign bribery investigation

Nov. 8, 2024 — Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Nicole M. Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”); Kareem Carter, Executive Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Field Office; and, Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Washington, D.C., Field Office, announced today that Telefónica Venezolana, C.A. (“Telefónica Venezolana”), a Venezuela-based subsidiary of Telefónica, S.A. (“Telefónica”), a publicly traded global telecommunications operator based in Spain, will pay over $85.2 million to resolve an investigation by the DOJ into a scheme to bribe government officials in Venezuela to receive preferential access to U.S. dollars in a currency auction.  Read More