Ex-Panama banker pleads guilty to laundering $1.2 billion

A German-born banker, formerly operating in Panama,  has pleaded guilty in Miami, Florida, to helping launder  $1.2 billion from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Matthias Krull, a 44, was a former director of the Swiss bank Julius Baer and its vice chairman in Panama.

Krull admitted to  US prosecutors to, being part of a conspiracy to attract Venezuelan customers and participate in a scheme of money laundering of about $1,2 billion of PDVSA, through real estate in the United States. He was reported to have a raft of PEPs (Politically Exposed Persons) on his books.

Krull was indicted in July and pleaded guilty in August. The sentence will be handed down on October 29 in a Miami court