Independent newsroom

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

The File

Every claim traces to a primary source. Uncertainty is labeled. Corrections are public.

FCPA · Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Ex-Vitol trader gets 4 years for Ecuador and Mexico oil bribes

The File desk · Sep. 22, 2026, 6:22 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

Confirmed (DOJ OPA, Sept. 21, 2026)
On Sept. 21, 2026, the Justice Department said Javier Aguilar, 52, a Mexican national living in Houston and a former oil trader, was sentenced in Brooklyn to four years in prison, $7.13 million in forfeiture, and a $100,000 fine. A jury found him guilty of conspiracy and violations tied to Ecuador and a money-laundering conspiracy tied to Ecuador and Mexico; he separately pleaded guilty in a Mexico and Travel Act conspiracy. Prosecutors say he paid more than $1 million in bribes to Petroecuador officials for a $300 million fuel-oil deal and about $600,000 to PPI/PEMEX officials for ethane contracts, using shell companies and sham invoices. Seven co-conspirators pleaded guilty; collective forfeiture exceeded $63 million. The release cites Vitol’s December 2020 deferred prosecution agreement ($135 million combined).
On Sept. 21, 2026, the Justice Department said Javier Aguilar, 52, a Mexican national living in Houston and a former oil trader, was sentenced in Brooklyn to four years in prison, $7.13 million in forfeiture, and a $100,000 fine.
A jury found him guilty of conspiracy and violations tied to Ecuador and a money-laundering conspiracy tied to Ecuador and Mexico.
He separately pleaded guilty in a Mexico and Travel Act conspiracy.
Prosecutors say he paid more than $1 million in bribes to Petroecuador officials for a $300 million fuel-oil deal and about $600,000 to PPI/PEMEX officials for ethane contracts, using shell companies and sham invoices.
Seven co-conspirators pleaded guilty; collective forfeiture exceeded $63 million.
The release cites Vitol’s December 2020 deferred prosecution agreement ($135 million combined).
How we know

What is still unknown or disputed

  • Exact EDNY docket number; civil exposure beyond the cited Vitol DPA.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Mexican National Sentenced for Scheme to Bribe Ecuadorian and Mexican Government Officials

    U.S. Department of Justice · September 21, 2026

    Javier Aguilar, 52, a Mexican national living in Houston, Texas, and a former oil trader, was sentenced in Brooklyn, New York, to four years in prison for his role in two separate schemes to bribe foreign officials in Ecuador and Mexico.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mexican-national-sentenced-scheme-bribe-ecuadorian-and-mexican-government-officials