The Venezuelan Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, has reported this Saturday that there are 25 people arrested for the corruption plot in the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and another 11 with an arrest warrant.
The suspects, officials of PDVSA and the National Superintendence of Cryptoactives (Sunacrip), recruited young people to legitimize capital “in the best style of the soap opera drug mafias,” Saab stressed.
The officials used their position and their levels of authority to execute parallel oil operations to those of PDVSA in the so-called case of the PDVSA-Crypto network.
“This was done through the assignment to Sunacrip and individuals of cargoes of crude oil on ships by that state company, without any type of administrative control or guarantees, in breach of the regulations,” the prosecutor detailed.
Those involved are 10 officials, 11 businessmen, three judges and a mayor, who are accused of charges of “appropriation or distraction of public assets, extension or use of influence relations, money laundering and association, while public employees will also face treason charges,” Saab explained, according to the Venezuelan press.
Among the detained officials, Antonio José Pérez Suárez, PDVSA’s vice president of trade and supplies, stands out, who appears as the main head of the corruption structure. Also detained are Joselit Camacho, the national superintendent of crypto assets, and Hugbel Rafael Roa, a former AN deputy who took advantage of his status as parliamentarian to manage the assignment of crude oil cargo contracts to operators who later did not pay.
José Agustín Ramos, Yamil Alejandro Martínez, Eduardo José Borgones, Henrys Chapellín and Jesús Enrique Salazar, officials of PDVSA’s vice presidency of commerce and supplies, have also been arrested. Rahid Alberto Mosqueda and Renys Gerardo Barrientos, from the digital mining and associated processes administration, have also been arrested.
Among the businessmen mentioned are Manuel Meneses, Roger Martínez, the brothers Rafael and Roger Perdomo, Daniel Prieto, Cristofer Barrios, Johana Torres, Alejandro Arroyo, Bernardo Arosio, Fernando Bermúdez and Leonardo Torres.
Pedro José Hernández Inojosa, mayor of the municipality of Santos Michelena, in the state of Aragua, has also been arrested for allegedly financing and supporting “with resources from the Venezuelan State, parties, public events and logistical material for criminal groups.”
Lastly, the members of the Judiciary detained are Cristóbal Cornieles Perret, president of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of Caracas; José Mascimino Márquez García, judge with competence in cases related to crimes of terrorism; and Yorwis Bracho Gómez, for taking advantage of his charges to grant judicial benefits.
The list of suspects with arrest warrants includes brothers Afonso Juan Manuel and Manuel Ramon, William Rivas, Ximena Parada, Eduardo Noriega, Jose Luis Ferrandiz, Olvani Gaspary, Raylin Yepez, Rodolfo Moleiro, Alejandro Londoño and Yuravic Ravelo.
Cabello, willing to face corruption
Following the prosecutor’s statements, the vice president of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, has declared that the government is “willing to continue confronting corruption with whatever balances are (necessary).”
“Those who steal people’s money to put it in their pockets are traitors to the Homeland, because that money should go to works, health, education, it should be to care for our people,” he said during a speech in which he indicated that the authorities have taken “a step forward” to look for the alleged criminals “wherever they are.”
In this sense, he has asserted that facing this situation has some consequences, “but none of that” should stop Venezuela “when it comes to confronting those who steal money” from the people. “Those who steal the people’s money to put it in their pockets are traitors to the country, because that money should go for works, for health, education, it should be to care for our people,” he added.