Fugitive from Venezuelan and American justice is working for Maduro,
By: Félix Francisco Bertomolde
Source: Venezuela Unida
Seeking photo
During a visit to Brickell, Miami, an old friend from Lara told me that prosecutors in Venezuela are investigating illegal activities of Toni Gebran, who used to go by Neif Frangie (Police Record Number 170166647, October 2017). His real name is Neif Antonio Gebran Frangie, an identity he concealed when he fled Venezuela to the United States in October 2012, accused of being a frontman for the drug trafficker Daniel Barrera Barrera, known as El Loco Barrera.
– There are so many investigations of that nature that it becomes tiresome – I warned her.
– Let’s see, Toni fled the United States at the end of last year, claiming political persecution by Hugo Chávez, but investigations uncovered that he is actually connected to his regime through a mafia led by Tareck Al Aissami. Once discovered, he escaped to Colombia and from there illegally re-entered Venezuela, where he is now working for Maduro’s government.
A criminal in the service of the government is not surprising, yet the inquiries shed light on how Toni Gebran gradually established businesses in South Florida, handling funds of dubious origin through partners and integrating them into a complex commercial structure to conceal the money trail from a massive money laundering and corruption scheme, showing strong evidence of his connections with international drug trafficking and corrupt Venezuelans, including the brothers of chavista leader Luis Reyes Reyes.
What else could accuse Gebran?
– He hid from immigration authorities that a Venezuelan court ordered his capture in October 2012 due to his links to international drug trafficking.
Is that arrest warrant still in effect?
– Of course, it remains in effect, alongside a request for his capture by Interpol. However, thanks to his connections in the government and his economic power, Toni managed to get himself removed from the system. If you check the Sipol system in Venezuela, he does not appear as wanted, nor in Interpol, but the Ninth Court of Caracas initially, and currently the Thirty-First Control Court of Caracas (case 31C-20500-18), maintains their decision for his detention for trial, as the evidence against him is compelling.
Do you know any elements that would allow us to assert that Neif Antonio Gebran created a complex business structure in the United States to conceal money from a vast money laundering and corruption scheme?
– Let’s take it step by step. Investigators talk about the effects of the accusation, or rather, the arrest warrant issued in October 2012. That’s why they refer to a before and after. Prior to the revelation of his ties to drug trafficking, Toni and his partners established 15 businesses here in Florida, from February 2006 (when he allegedly partnered with Loco Barrera) until September 2012. After he fled to the US, he activated 14 businesses from October 2012 until March 2018, when alarms began to ring regarding his ties to Tareck Al Aissami’s mafia, and he ran away from here.
You mentioned partners, do you know the identity of any?
– Among Toni’s partners, three deserve special attention due to their criminal records: Rodolfo Velasco Kassem, who is here in the United States fleeing like him, because he is accused of being Loco Barrera’s frontman, just like Toni. Nicolás Aular Parra (partner of Javier Bertucci), involved in illegal activities involving the importation of luxury vehicles of dubious origin into Venezuela. And José Miguel Reyes Ortiz, a relative of the Reyes Reyes brothers.
What is the status of those businesses?
– Many are inactive, with the most significant active ones being one from 2014, Exotic Collection Miami, another from 2016, Exportatucarro.com, and two from 2018, Inversora GG and ELF Automotive Corp. These last two were created with his cousin named Bachir Gebran Gebran.
Are there other relatives of Neif Gebran Frangie among the shareholders of those companies?
– This question is quite interesting. Toni seemed to know he was being pursued; he first integrated his parents, Antonio Gebran and Laurie Frangie, into those businesses. In recent years, he added as shareholders his current wife, Dayanni Gómez, her mother and grandmother, Dayne González and Carmen Rangel; the mother of his two first children, Norgelis Aldana; and even his driver, Emilio José Montoya, leaving for himself a minimal share, or rather, he left his businesses in their hands. His wife and cousin Bachir are currently looking after his interests, but in agreement with the others I mentioned.
Are there any other significant partners?
– Certainly, Omar Nemer and Atef Daniel Nemer, sons of a well-known businessman from Barinas State named Atef Nemer Hirchedd, who is linked to the chavista regime. I can also mention Gilson Barroeta Flores, who appeared in the case of the narcos sobrinos as their arms supplier, along with Arnaldo Sosa, Sergio Esnal, Ramón Ceballos, Edward Fernández, Juan López, and Alexander Hernández, all with official connections.
Are there any conclusive elements that allow us to assert that the money handled by Neif Gebran comes from drug trafficking?
– Eventually, prosecutors in the United States came across some of these elements after accessing the case file Toni has open in Venezuela for drug trafficking, in which the prosecution presents him as a frontman for drug trafficker Daniel Barrera Barrera, relying on a series of indisputable documents that also support that Toni manages large sums of money and assets derived from the illegal activities that Loco Barrera was engaged in, such as drug trafficking and money laundering. There are also communications from inmates in the US where he is mentioned as a member of Tareck Al Aissami’s mafia, who is said to have protected the drug trafficker he was fronting for, Loco Barrera.
Is it a fact that Neif Gebran Frangie is in Venezuela working for Maduro’s government?
– Indeed, he has been seen strolling in Colonia Tovar, at a well-known restaurant in El Hatillo, drinking good scotch, driving luxury vehicles, and frequenting high-end establishments in eastern Caracas. He is living lavishly, as they say in Venezuela, and holds a card from a state company of military origin. He has worked to keep these actions hidden for one purpose: to be just another connected person, but I hear he will soon face justice for his crimes, whether in Venezuela or the United States.
Tags: Corruption, Interpol, money laundering, drug trafficking, Nicolas Maduro, Tareck El Aissami, Frontman