Since 2017, the justice system in Venezuela has undergone a complex criminal process involving fraud and conspiracy, with one of the accused being Peruvian citizen Gabriel Abusada James. This situation goes back to 2016, when Gabriel Abusada James, acting as a representative of the company Mega Pack de Venezuela C.A., along with Elis Alfredo Elefteriu Fernández, the president of the aforementioned company, offered packaging machines for sale to the company Inversiones Axones 2008 C.A., represented by citizen Lisandro García Cruzco. After the sale was made, the purchasing company realized that the machines were not in good condition, rendering them inoperable. The matter became even more complicated when the buyer discovered that the machinery was subject to a bank mortgage, which the representatives of Mega Pack de Venezuela C.A. had overlooked, making the sale impossible and constituting fraud in itself.
Gabriel Abusada James fled to Peru, prompting the victims of the fraud to request an international arrest warrant against him in 2018, which was executed by Peruvian justice authorities.
A ruling dated May 20, 2019, from the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela explains the details surrounding the fraud:
“…On November 25, 2016, the citizen ELIS ALFREDO ELEFTERIU FERNANDEZ (sic) BACA, Venezuelan (sic), of legal age (sic) holder of identity card number V-29.584.887, representing the company MEGA PACK DE VENEZUELA CA (sic) of which he is the President, sold to the company INVERSIONES AXONES 2008 C.A., represented by the citizen LISANDRO GARCÍA CRUZCO, the machinery described in the complaint submitted to this Court on August 9, 2017, by citizens Gary Ávila and Deilin Grimán, representing the company INVERSIONES AXONES 2008 C.A. against citizens GABRIEL ABUSADA JAMES, of Peruvian nationality, with a migratory condition of transit in the country, identified with the ID number E-84.589.607; ELIS ALFONSO ELEFTERIU FERNÁNDEZ BACA, Venezuelan, legal age holder of the ID card number V-29.584.887 and HENRY JESUS RIVAS OJEDA, Venezuelan of legal age with ID number V-4.129.619. (…) are shareholders, president and representatives of MEGA PACK DE VENEZUELA C.A.,(…). The citizen LISANDRO GARCIA (sic) CRUZCO, victim in this case and representative of INVERSIONES AXONES 2008 CA (sic), proceeded to initiate negotiations with citizen GABRIEL ABUSADA JAMES, who at the time represented MEGA PACK DE VENEZUELA C.A. and he offered packaging machines for sale, which were of interest to the victim, who at all times was willing to make transactions (sic) (…) accordingly, (…) he indicated (sic) that he would sign with citizen ELIS ALFREDO ELEFTERIU FERNANDEZ (sic) BACA, who was the president of the company he owned, informing him to coordinate with the President and his lawyer, citizen HENRY JESUS RIVAS OJEDA, (…) the victim paid the agreed price. (…) [realizing] that indeed the members of MEGA PACK DE VENEZUELA C.A. had defrauded him, as after acquiring in good faith the machines (…) he noticed that they were not in excellent condition as the sellers had communicated, but rather the mentioned machines were inoperable, and as a consequence, the delay in fulfilling the obligations that INVERSIONES AXONES 2008 C.A. had led the victim to request credits in banking institutions, such as applying for credit at the Banco Occidental de Descuento (B. O. D), and as a result, he learned that the machines he had acquired had previously been mortgaged in favor of the mentioned banking institution (sic) by MEGA PACK DE VENEZUELA C.A., which is why these machines could not and should not be sold, however, in order to address the economic and asset situation that troubled him, he proceeded to communicate with citizens (sic) GABRIEL ABUSADA JAMES, ELIS ALFREDO ELEFTERIU FERNÁNDEZ BACA and HENRY JESÚS RIVAS OJEDA, to whom he voluntarily demanded the reimbursement of the money paid for this or to inform him of the reasons for the mortgage to see what solution they could provide to fulfill his obligations, however, the response from these individuals was negative, with evasions and they did not offer him a satisfactory response and no solution to this, simply they did not respond to his calls anymore.(…) On the other hand, from the proceedings submitted before this Prosecutor’s Office, the complaint submitted by citizen NATALY IVANOHUA PÉREZ VIÑA also shows that she claims to be a direct victim of the aforementioned events as the fraud committed against citizen LISANDRO GARCÍA CRUZCO previously indicated originated from one of the civil suits that citizen NATALY PÉREZ VIÑA filed against the defendants to demand payment of professional attorney fees, which were admitted and have been processed according to the law and during which precautionary measures were agreed upon, with the defendants having committed crimes to evade future executions against the assets of the company (…) This assertion is reinforced by the statements made by citizen NATALY IVANOHUA PÉREZ VIÑA, who in all respects is affected, as the fraudulent sale of the machinery made by the defendants to INVERSIONES AXONES 2008 C.A. Additionally, she states that it was done with the firm intention to make the compliance with the sentence that might come against her in the civil cases initiated against the defendants an illusion (…) Now then, from the analysis of the case, it follows that a punishable act has been committed as previously described (…) being the victims, on the one hand, the citizen LISANDRO GARCÍA CRUZCO, the victim in this case and representative of INVERSIONES AXONES 2008 C.A.(…) and on the other hand, citizen NATALY IVANOHUA PÉREZ VIÑA, who is affected by such action, since the actions undertaken by the accused were not only aimed at defrauding citizen NATALY PÉREZ, who in all events could not see the payment of her fees resolved, due to the fact that citizens GABRIEL ABUSADA JAMES and ELIS ALFREDO ELEFTERIU FERNÁNDEZ BACA carried out all necessary activities to commit the crimes set forth in the complaint (…) Given the reasons above, the signatory considers that in any event the intention of the defendants to carry out the criminal act is evident, based on the presumed fraud (…) [in so far as] they sold machinery as free when it was encumbered to a banking institution, which even to date remains subject to the mortgage measure …”.
The ruling from the TSJ indicates that Gabriel Abusada James and other representatives of Mega Pack de Venezuela C.A. attempted to obstruct judicial actions taken by the fraud victims in Aragua state courts, also causing the highest court of justice in Venezuela to dismiss those actions.
While in Peru, sources close to The Freedom Post reported that Gabriel Abusada James’ lawyers attempted to present cases to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in order to prevent his extradition to Venezuela.
In 2019, Gabriel Abusada James and Elis Elefteriu Fernández managed to obtain a statement from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the UN Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, in which they tried to present the extradition request to Venezuela as actions and circumstances that “could be due, according to the received information, to a supposed manipulation of the Venezuelan penal system through an alleged closeness to the ruling party.”
In the Working Group’s document on Arbitrary Detention, it states:
«Messrs. Abusada and Fernández established themselves in Venezuela in 1998 and worked together at the Megapack de Venezuela company, of which they were shareholders and president, respectively. In 2016, Mr. Abusada decided to sell the company and agreed to sell its machinery to the company Inversiones Axones 2008 C.A. (“Axones”). Apparently, Axones has numerous contracts with the Venezuelan state, and its owner is a business partner of Ms. María del Carmen Prin Hernández, an official in charge of state interventions on private companies in Venezuela. The property transfer contract was signed before a Venezuelan public notary on November 25, 2016. When the agreed payments were partially defaulted, Mr. Abusada formally requested the payment of the debt balance in March 2017.
In August 2017, Inversiones Axones filed a complaint, alleging fraud and conspiracy against Messrs. Abusada and Elefteriu, crimes punishable by imprisonment. The basis of the complaint is that the machinery was subject to a mortgage (which was released), as well as the fact that it was also involved in another lawsuit for the indeminification of extrajudicial fees by Ms. Nataly Pérez Viña against Messrs. Abusada and Elefteriu. The First Criminal Control Tribunal of Aragua State (Venezuela) processed this complaint.
Messrs. Abusada and Fernández claim a supposed manipulation and instrumentalization of the Venezuelan accusatory system to carry out a criminal prosecution instead of civil action against them; as well as that the guarantees of due process and defense have not been respected in this judicial process. Among other issues, they assert they were informed that the denial of the possibility to exercise their defense through an appointed defender was presumably caused by “express superior orders” within the Tribunal.
On March 5, 2018, the First Criminal Control Tribunal of Aragua State (Venezuela) issued an arrest warrant against Messrs. Abusada and Fernández for the alleged commission of the crime of fraud. On March 21, the Prosecutor’s Office requested Interpol, without authorization or approval from the Tribunal, to include Messrs. Abusada and Elefteriu in the Interpol Red Alert system. However, the Tribunal (which is the only competent body to issue national and international arrest warrants) has never agreed to an international release order, nor an Alert notification for Interpol. Messrs. Abusada and Fernández fear being subject to arbitrary detention.
On July 5, 2018, the Second Specialized Criminal Court of Villa María del Triunfo (Peru) issued a ruling declaring Messrs. Abusada and Fernández as beneficiaries of the habeas corpus action and ordered the non-application and suspension in Peru of the Interpol location and capture order. The court declared the habeas corpus request founded, among other reasons, for violating fundamental rights in the penal process followed in Venezuela.
On September 7, 2018, the First Control Tribunal of the Judicial Penal Circuit of Aragua State (Venezuela) issued a second arrest warrant against Messrs. Abusada and Fernández for a supposed crime of fraud in its modality of fraud to the detriment of Ms. Perez Viña. The Prosecutor’s Office requested the Tribunal to initiate the extradition procedure.
On October 24, 2018, the Thirtieth Penal Court of Lima (Peru) issued a preliminary resolution addressing the issuance of the arrest warrant for extradition, requested by Interpol. Messrs. Abusada and Fernández understand that this resolution, in addition to ignoring the habeas corpus issued in July, was supposedly issued in irregular collaboration between the Peruvian and Venezuelan Prosecutors’ Offices, without following the relevant formal and material mechanisms and procedures through the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and without a prior extradition request from the Venezuelan Judiciary.
On November 23, 2018, the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela agreed to the extradition request of Messrs. Abusada and Fernández, at the request of the penal tribunal handling the case in Venezuela. In this request, the Venezuelan State commits before the State of Peru that Messrs. Abusada and Fernández will be tried with all guarantees of due process and defense, as well as respecting their human rights. However, Messrs. Abusada and Fernández fear being victims of arbitrary detentions, that said procedural guarantees will not be respected (as they understand they have not been respected to date), as well as the alleged lack of independence of the Venezuelan Judiciary and Prosecutor’s Office; and the lack of guarantees within the penitentiary system.
On January 14, 2019, the Thirtieth Penal Court of Lima (Peru) informed the Second Penal Appeals Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima Sur (Peru), which is reviewing the appeal to the ruling that first declared the request for habeas corpus in favor of Messrs. Abusada and Fernández founded, about the existence of preventive detention procedure for extradition purposes. This procedure was initiated because of the request made by Venezuelan judicial authorities through the International Cooperation Unit of the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office, in order for the habeas corpus process to specify whether the effects of a potential confirmatory ruling should extend to the preventive detention procedure for extradition, so that it could be suspended or archived.
Messrs. Abusada and Fernández have learned that Ms. Pérez Viña, complainant in one of the processes, has been in Peru since January 2019, and is being supported by the Venezuelan Embassy in Peru to allegedly negotiate with the Thirtieth Penal Court of Lima. Apparently, Ms. Pérez Viña may have accessed the judge of that court and its superior justices in an irregular manner and might have been able to exert “pressure” to process and follow up on the arrest warrant issued against Messrs. Abusada and Fernández. Such kinds of interventions also allegedly took place earlier. For example, Ms. Pérez Viña, along with Ms. Grimán, traveled to Peru on September 9, 2018, and on September 10, the Venezuelan Embassy sent a communication to the International Cooperation Office of the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office regarding the arrest warrant for Messrs. Abusada and Fernández, aiming for said office to proceed with the request for the arrest warrant in Peru. Ms. Grimán returned to Lima on October 21, and on the 24th of the same month, the Thirtieth Penal Court of Lima issued an arrest warrant for extradition.
The Second Penal Appeals Chamber has set March 15, 2019, as the date for the hearing on the basis of the habeas corpus petition. The decision to be made that day could lead to the initiation of the extradition process for Messrs. Abusada and Elefteriu to Venezuela, with the risks that this would imply for their fundamental rights.
We would like to express our concern regarding the allegations presented. If the detention of Messrs. Abusada and Fernández proceeds for extradition and trial in Venezuela, it could lead to arbitrary detention since the requirements established for carrying out an international arrest warrant have not been met. We also show our concern regarding the possibility of a judicial procedure in Venezuela that would not respect due process and defense guarantees, including those related to the right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal.
In 2021, the TSJ of Venezuela annulled the procedures undertaken following a ruling dated September 24, 2019, issued by the Third First Instance Court in Control functions of the Judicial Penal Circuit of Aragua state, which had reactivated the arrest warrants issued on March 5, 2018 for Gabriel Abusada James and others involved in the fraud. The TSJ ordered the case to be returned to a different First Instance Tribunal in control function, once the arrest warrants were executed, to summon the parties for the presentation hearing of the accused.
Offshore Company
The Panama Papers revealed that Gabriel Abusada James appears in the British Virgin Islands as a shareholder of MAPROPLAST B.V. LTD, a company still active, created in 2012 by MOSSACK FONSECA & CO. (PERU) CORP., the Peruvian division of the controversial Panamanian law firm MOSSACK FONSECA, which has been accused of facilitating the creation of offshore structures to conceal fortunes in tax havens. On the same date of creation of MAPROPLAST B.V. LTD in the British Virgin Islands, a similarly named company was formed in Nevada, United States, linked to an address in the Bahamas.
In Panama, Gabriel Abusada James registered the company SPUMA PACK INC. in 2013.
Gabriel Abusada James is also rumored to be utilizing online reputation cleaning services, though it is still uncertain whether he is a client of Eliminalia, a firm specializing in reputation management:
We can see how a Twitter account named @Lavineradorada is executing the cleaning job, trying to position the name of the implicated without any links to crimes.
Cleaning Efforts:
Generally, corrupt individuals spend thousands of dollars on this service to live in peace, benefiting from stolen money from the continuous plunder of Venezuela. Though it remains to be seen how the case of Abusada James will conclude, it still opens the possibility for his extradition.