Roberto Añez and David Brillembourg are facing serious allegations in a 31-page complaint filed by IRS Special Agent Warren Rogers. This complaint highlights the complicity of both individuals with the former socialist mayor of San Francisco de Zulia, Omar Prieto. They are accused of being involved in the establishment of a trust at Bancoex to exploit resources from the Chinese Fund intended for the construction of a waste incineration plant, according to the U.S. State Department’s corruption investigation.
David Brillembourg, one of the leaders of the Añez-Brillembourg clan, participated in the embezzlement of the Chinese fund alongside Roberto Añez of Avior Airlines and Juan Ramírez of Nodus International Bank. Over $400 million was liquidated, diverting funds to personal accounts and those of their intermediaries, leaving the project in Zulia unconstructed and failing to comply with the intended use of the $400 million.
According to the State Department’s report, the trust at Bancoex was named Ciudad de Progreso Alpha I (Ciuproca). In 2013, Nodus International Bank liquidated over $400 million for them, which eventually ended up in the personal accounts of the accused.
Sources close to the Añez-Brillembourg Clan reveal that Roberto Añez is currently under investigation by Europol, the U.S. Southern District Attorney’s Office in Florida, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office 73 in Venezuela.
The modus operandi of the Añez-Brillembourg Clan included the founding of the Brillembourg Capriles Group (GBC) by David Brillembourg and his mother, Tanya Brillembourg, managing $500 million with a real estate capital of $1 billion. Additionally, Roberto Añez’s daughter, Mercedes Cecilia Añez, is also involved as a signer in the companies.
Mercedes Cecilia Añez
Añez, known as the clan’s “bookkeeper,” was subject to investigation and fined $3 million for “money transmitting.” Before establishing the Brillembourg Group, Añez and Brillembourg used Brilla Group and Brilla Bank in Santa Lucia to launder and divert the $400 million liquidated by the Chinese Fund at Bancoex, according to AlbertoNews.
A group of those affected by the Añez-Brillembourg clan is forming to file a class action lawsuit.
After gaining access to the Chinese fund, the accused diverted the funds intended for the project in Zulia to their personal accounts, carrying out a multimillion-dollar theft. The alleged “waste plant,” which was the designated purpose for the $400 million, remains unbuilt.