A former executive at Venezuela’s state-owned oil company has pleaded guilty in a currency exchange scheme targeting the state-run oil company, the latest in the unfolding investigation of an alleged $1.2 billion fraud that cleaned funds through South Florida real estate.

Abraham Edgardo Ortega pleaded guilty Wednesday to money laundering conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami. Ortega, a Venezuelan national who is free on bond, faces sentencing Jan. 9.