Miami, Fl. -- A former Venezuelan National Treasurer and her spouse were charged in a superseding indictment for their alleged participation in a previously indicted billion-dollar currency exchange and money laundering scheme. An alleged co-conspirator was previously charged in the original indictment.
Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen (Diaz), 47, and her spouse, Adrian Jose Velasquez Figueroa (Velasquez), 41, Venezuelan citizens who reside in Madrid, Spain, were charged in a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering.
Raul Gorrin Belisario (Gorrin), 52, a Venezuelan billionaire businessman who owns Globovision news network, was charged by indictment in August 2018 and remains charged in the superseding indictment as a co-conspirator in the same conspiracy and money laundering counts. He is currently a fugitive residing in Venezuela.
The superseding indictment alleges that Gorrin paid millions of dollars in bribes to two former Venezuelan national treasurers, Alejandro Andrade Cedeno (Andrade) and Diaz, and to Velasquez, for the benefit of Diaz, to secure the rights to conduct foreign currency exchange transactions at favorable rates for the Venezuelan government. Gorrin wired money to and for the benefit of Andrade and Diaz, including money for private jets, yachts, homes, champion horses, high-end watches and a fashion line. To conceal the bribe payments, Gorrin made payments through multiple shell companies.
Andrade, 56, a Venezuelan citizen, was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2017 for his role in the conspiracy to commit money laundering. As part of his guilty plea, Andrade admitted that he received over $1 billion in bribes from co-conspirator Gorrin and other co-conspirators in exchange for using his position as Venezuelan national treasurer to select them to conduct currency exchange transactions at favorable rates for the Venezuelan government.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Mark B. Dawson of HSI Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh and Inspector General Jay N. Lerner of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Washington, D.C. Office made the announcement.
HSI Miami, HSI Houston, HSI Boston, FBI Miami, and FDIC D.C. investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt Lunkenheimer, of the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant Chief Vanessa Sisti and Trial Attorney Paul A. Hayden of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nalina Sombuntham, of the Southern District of Florida, are handling asset forfeiture. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this matter. The Policía Nacional (Spanish National Police) also provided significant assistance.
You may find a copy of this press release on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
You may find court documents on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 18-cr-80160.
###
| URL | |
|---|---|
| Component | USAO - Florida, Southern; |
| OIG | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation OIG |