Blinken on ‘elevating anti-corruption leadership and promoting accountability for corrupt actors

On International Anti-Corruption Day 2021, the United States reiterates its commitment to elevating anti-corruption as a core national security priority and a key pillar of the Summit for Democracy.  I am pleased to announce today the State Department is establishing a Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption, who will integrate and elevate the fight against corruption across all aspects of U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance.  The coordinator, working closely with interagency and international partners, will lead State Department implementation of the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, announced this week by the White House, as we bring all our resources to what President Biden has called “the challenge of our time.”    

The United States is also taking additional bold actions today to combat corruption and promote accountability through sanctions and visa restrictions under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program and Department of State’s Section 7031(c) visa restriction authority. 

Together, these complementary actions promote accountability for corrupt actors across the globe to disrupt and deter those who would seek to act with impunity, disregard international standards, and undermine democracy and rule of law.   

These designations are made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021.  Under this authority, the Secretary shall deny entry into the United States to officials of foreign governments involved in significant corruption and their immediate family members.   

The Department of State is designating the following individuals for their involvement in significant corruption:  

• Carlos Julián Bermeo Casas, a former prosecutor within the Colombian Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP), for engaging in significant corruption by accepting a monetary bribe in exchange for obstructing the extradition to the United States of a suspected narco-trafficker.  As part of this action, Bermeo’s spouse, Nohora Fernanda Giron Cifuentes, and minor child are also designated. 
• Manuel Víctor Martínez Olivet, the former Director of the Santa Rosa Health Area in Guatemala, for corrupt activities through the misappropriation of state assets and fraud related to government purchases.  As part of this action, Olivet’s spouse, Yohanna Massiel Duarte Aguliar, and minor child are also designated.  Olivet was also designated by the Department of the Treasury under Global Magnitsky for his role in corruption. 
• Nestor Moncada Lau, a national security advisor to the Nicaraguan Ortega-Murillo regime, for engaging in significant corruption by accepting a monetary bribe in exchange for using his control over the Nicaraguan tax and customs authorities to enable and perpetuate an import and customs fraud scheme to enrich members of the Ortega-Murillo regime.  Moncada’s spouse, Lydia Vargas de Moncada, and children Claudia Vanessa Moncada Solis, Ernesto David Moncada Solis, Allan Roberto Moncada Vargas, Nestor Jose Moncada Vargas, and Lidia Mercedes Moncada Vargas are also designated under this action.  Nestor Moncada Lau was also designated by the Department of the Treasury in 2018 for his role in corruption in support of the Ortega-Murillo regime. 
• Martha Carolina Recinos de Bernal, current Chief of Cabinet in El Salvador, for engaging in significant corruption by misusing public funds for personal benefit and participating in a money laundering scheme.  As part of this action, her husband Efren Arnoldo Bernal Chevez and her son German Alfredo Bernal Recinos are also designated.  Recinos was also designated by the Department of the Treasury under Global Magnitsky for her role in corruption.  
• Osiris Luna Meza, Vice Minister of Justice and Bureau of Prisons Director and Carlos Amilcar Marroquin Chica, Director of Tejido Social (Social Cohesion), in El Salvador, for involvement in significant corruption by misappropriating public funds and interfering in public processes for personal profit.  Marroquin and Luna were also designated by the Department of the Treasury under Global Magnitsky for their role in corruption. 
• Prince Yormie Johnson, current senator in Liberia, for his role in significant corruption through engagements involving millions of dollars in bribery and pay-for-play funding schemes.  His spouse, Ameria Bovidee Johnson, and child, Blessing Johnson, are also covered as part of this action.  Prince Yormie Johnson was also designated by the Department of the Treasury under Global Magnitsky for his role in corruption. 
• Leopoldo Fragoso do Nascimento, “Dino,” former head of communications for Angolan President, and Manuel Helder Vieira Dias, “Kopelipa,” former Angolan General, for their involvement in significant corruption through the embezzlement and misappropriation of billions of dollars in state funds for personal benefit.  As part of this action, Nascimento’s spouse, Amelia Maria Coelho da Cruz Nascimento, and Dias’s spouse, Luisa de Fatima Giovetty, and children Lidiane Rafaela Giovetty and Carlos de Ancieto G Vieira Dias Junior are also designated.  Nascimento, Manuelo Dias, and Luisa Dias were also designated  by the Department of the Treasury under Global Magnitsky for their role in corruption.  
• Isabel dos Santos, former Chair of an Angolan state-owned enterprise, for her involvement in significant corruption by misappropriating public funds for her personal benefit. 
• Oleksandr Tupytskyi, the former Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, for significant corrupt acts to include the acceptance of a monetary bribe while serving in the Ukrainian judiciary.  Tupytskyi’s spouse, Olga Tupytska, was also designated as part of this action. 

A complete list of the Department of the Treasury’s actions can be found here.  The United States is committed to working with international partners, allies, and civil society to combat corruption and promote accountability and good governance.  The United States commends Australia and the United Kingdom for adopting anti-corruption accountability legislation and sanctions regimes this year, and calls on other like-minded partners to do the same.   

 Antony J. Blinken is the United States Secretary of State. He wrote this from Washington DC