It's AUSA Michael Berger versus defense lawyer Howard Srebnick. Law360 has the story on openings:
Ecuador's former comptroller on Tuesday denied accepting and laundering $10 million in bribes in exchange for eliminating fines imposed against a Brazilian company for constructing a shoddy hydroelectric plant, telling a Florida federal court he was charged with crimes because the project's corrupt manager lied to avoid prison time.
Speaking on behalf of 73-year-old Carlos Ramon Pólit Faggioni, Howard M. Srebnick of Black Srebnick PA told a jury during opening statements that his client was charged because of the "bought and paid for" testimony of an ex-Odebrecht SA executive working with the U.S. government and that the Miami real estate allegedly used to launder the bribes came from legitimate transactions by Pólit's son.
"Carlos Ramon Pólit did not launder a single dollar" and former Odebrecht executive Jose Santos "negotiated a deal like no one else on the planet Earth" to avoid going to prison over paying bribes to make heavy fines against his company go away, Srebnick said.
Pólit was charged in 2022 with conspiracy, concealing the bribes through a series of intermediaries and spending the illicit proceeds on expensive South Florida real estate, including a house in the exclusive community of Cocoplum in Coral Gables, Florida.
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