By Sabela Ojea

Telefónica Venezolana agreed to pay $85.2 million to resolve an investigation conducted by the Justice Department into an alleged bribery scheme to obtain U.S. dollars.

The subsidiary of Spanish telecommunication company Telefónica allegedly agreed to bribe government officials in the Latin American country to exchange its Venezuelan bolivars to U.S. dollars in a currency auction in 2014 and maintain its position in the Venezuelan communications market.

"Telefónica Venezolana chose to support a corrupt regime to circumvent the difficulties of conducting legal business in Venezuela," said Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

Telefónica Venezolana, which entered into a deferred prosecution agreement as part of the settlement, recruited two suppliers to make corrupt payments of about $28.9 million to an intermediary, knowing that some of those funds would be paid as a "commission" to Venezuelan government officials, the DOJ said Friday.

The subsidiary then covered the bribes by purchasing equipment from two suppliers, who then paid the bribes on the company's behalf. This allowed Telefónica Venezolana to receive more than $110 million through the currency auction, representing over 65% of the funds that the Venezuelan government awarded in the 2014 currency auction, according to the DOJ.

Telefónica Venezolana and its parent company have agreed to continue cooperating with the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in any investigation arising during the term of the deferred prosecution agreement.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2024 16:58 ET (21:58 GMT)

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