Ex-Chavistas had their "washing machine" | In the agenda



[ad_1]

  Photo: Archives | Reference

Photo: Archive | Repository

Editorial 2001 | [email protected]

The plot of this story of alleged corruption, embezzlement and fraud begins in Venezuela and ends in Miami.

Splinters of citizens of several countries, banks, law firms and real estate investment companies that, according to the United States Department of Justice participated in a " international regime "to launder funds diverted from the Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA . Destiny? The real estate in Miami, which was acquired as a result of "complex complex false investments". And some of those allegedly involved have already begun to fall.

US authorities announced Wednesday the arrest of Miami and Sicilia Italy of two people accused of "conspiring" to participate in this plot: Venezuelan-German Matthias Krull – a 44-year-old banker residing in Panama – and Colombian Gustavo Adolfo Hernández Frieri, 45 years old.

But they are not the only ones. In the documents of the court to which he had access BBC Mundo, nine other "unidentified co-conspirators" are mentioned and six other defendants are identified, some of whom are Venezuelan government or company officials oil.

Among them, American justice reports Carmelo Urdaneta Aqui who was legal adviser of Ministry of Oil and Mines of Venezuela ; Abraham Edgardo Ortega former executive director of finance of PDVSA

The other members of the network who are "fugitives", according to the American authorities, are Venezuelans F rancisco Convit Guruceaga and José Vincente Amparan Chew ; the Portuguese Hugo Andre Ramalho Gois and the Uruguayan Marcelo Federico Gutiérrez Acosta and Lara .

Many of them are defined by American justice as "boliburgeses", the term used in Venezuela to refer to people enriched by Chavismo

The Venezuelan government did not respond to accusations or the alleged involvement of his former employees in this network

. plot that the US authorities investigated for more than two years under the name "Operation Money Laundering"?

The plot . As evidenced by the criminal complaint, the "conspiracy" began in December 2014 with a plan to hijack about 600 million US dollars PDVSA "obtained through corruption and corruption."

The Court notes that the defendants have benefited "Preferential exchange rate granted to Venezuelan government officials" to accumulate millions of dollars and then launder them through the purchase of properties in Miami.

Documents from the US Attorney indicate that the difference between this type of change and the In 2014, the price of the dollar on the Venezuelan black market was 10 to 1, which allowed them buy 100 million US dollars by paying 10 million US dollars.

And if the court text says only $ 600 million a year later, they doubled that figure and the amount was about $ 1.2 billion.

Companies . At the center of the indictment is the company Derwick Associates, a Venezuelan engineering company specializing in the construction of power plants that has been accused of bribery to receive phone calls. offers for projects

. Only named company. According to the prosecution, two other investment companies cooperated in Miami: Global Security Advisors and Global Strategic Investments . Both, allegedly, were in charge of money laundering operations through false investments in mutual funds.
Fraudulent operations expanded and expanded until one of the individuals concerned informed the US authorities

Two years ago, a "source confidential contacted the Office of National Security Investigations ". $ 909 million that he had received "under a loan agreement with Pdvsa," notes the Prosecution.

According to the document, the "informant" was involved in a money-laundering scheme and wanted to deliver and cooperate. "

This was the beginning of the end of the network. But, according to authorities, the case has also unveiled a new edge of the dark real estate market intrigue in Miami and its alleged connection with Venezuela's "dirty money".

The washing machine of Miami . Prosecutors said the investigations revealed "sophisticated ploys of false investments to launder hundreds of millions of US dollars" through one tactic: the purchase of real estate in Miami.

For decades, many consider this American city as a destination for illicit money coming, on many occasions, from Latin America, and a classic formula for money laundering is buying homes, often using legal mechanisms to conceal the identity of the buyer. it has become an international center for money laundering and a desirable destination for prosperous criminals, "states the text of the US Attorney's Office.

" The Social, Political and Economic Crisis of Venezuela, across the thriving billions of dollars of corrupt ecosystems, feeds a river of criminal funds that crosses South Florida "

An assessment of the National Association of Realtors estimated that, during the only In 2015, foreign citizens bought in Miami 10,600 homes for a total value of about 6,100 million US dollars.

The same study reveals that four of the top five countries of origin of buyers were the 39 Latin America: Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia 13% of international buyers in 2015 came from the first country BBC Mundo

2018-07-28

] For R ester informed, follow our channel on Telegram https://t.me/Diario2001Online

[ad_2]
Source link