Former banker pleads guilty in U.S. to role in laundering embezzled PDVSA funds

(Reuters) - A former executive with Swiss bank Julius Baer pleaded guilty on Wednesday for his role in a billion-dollar scheme to launder money embezzled from the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Matthias Krull, 44, a German national who is a former Julius Baer Panama vice chairman, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the department said in a statement.

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington)