U.S. authorities have charged two former top officials of the government of Bolivia in connection with an international bribery and money laundering scheme.
Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, the former minister of the Bolivian government, and Sergio Rodrigo Mendez Mendizabal, his former chief of staff, each face up to 20 years imprisonment on money laundering charges as part of a bribery scheme designed to secure a Bolivian Ministry of Defense contract for a U.S. firm, according to a May 26 statement from Department of Justice announcing the charges.
