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. An attorney for Murillo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mendez didn’t have an attorney listed as of May 26. Mendez and Murillo allegedly received the bribes and used the U.S. financial system to launder the illicit funds. According to the indictment (pdf), Luis Berkman, Bryan Berkman, and Philip Lichtenfeld paid Murillo, Mendez, and another Bolivian government official $602,000 in bribes. “The bribes were paid so that …