Brooklyn bizman’s been jailed for 18 months — now his rice leads to arrest of Bolivian official
LA PAZ, Bolivia— A high-ranking Bolivian official was arrested last week for alleged illegal enrichment from the sale of rice seized from a Brooklyn businessman who has been jailed for 18 months without charge.
The American, Jacob Ostreicher, was arrested in a money-laundering investigation but no evidence has been presented in court to support the case against him. He claims his incarceration has allowed corrupt officials to fleece him, seizing 18,000 metric tons of rice from his farming venture and selling most of it.
The Bolivian arrested Monday and accused of receiving $9,900 in proceeds in a personal bank account from the sale of some of Ostreicher’s rice is Jose Manuel Antezana, an official in the Presidential Ministry who was named to the board of directors of the state-run Cartonbol cardboard company in 2010.