The Argentine Federal Police (PFA) has arrested Argentine citizen Jorge Germán Bonelli, as reported by the country’s Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich. He was wanted by Venezuelan authorities in the PDVSA Cripto case for acting as a frontman for Italian citizen Alessandro Bazzoni and his Norwegian wife Siri Evjemo-Nysveen.
“The apprehended individual is said to be an operator and frontman for another fugitive of Italian nationality, who is presumed to be the main member of the criminal structure. It is suspected that the Argentine created companies in multiple jurisdictions, in several of which he is listed as the owner, director, and treasurer, to carry out trading activities, chartering, purchasing tanker ships, and using fake identities, all to facilitate the theft of crude oil shipments and its fraudulent marketing for personal gain,” states the communiqué issued by the Argentine Ministry of Security.
ARGENTINE LINKED TO NARCODICTATOR MADURO, CAPTURED
He had an international arrest warrant. He was connected to a corrupt Chavista scheme in the commercialization of crude oil from Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., along with officials from that country. He created companies to materialize… pic.twitter.com/lvBJ2KVJ1Q
— Patricia Bullrich (@PatoBullrich) March 21, 2024
The operation took place at the family home of Jorge Germán Bonelli, 38 years old, in the town of Chajarí, Entre Ríos, where he was being geolocated via the phones he used by the Department of Technical Cybercrime, according to the communiqué.
Bonelli had an international arrest warrant since last year and was actively being sought by Interpol. Along with him are José Luis Chávez Calva, Rodrigo Guerena Bobadilla, Joaquín Leal Jimenez, Alessandro Bazzoni, and Siri Evjemo-Nysveen, with the last two being the heads of the managerial structure.
Bazzoni, along with the Mexican Leal Jimenez, operated the oil theft through PDVSA (with the blessing of the former Minister of Oil, Tareck El Aissami). Meanwhile, Siri Evjemo-Nysveen, Bazzoni’s wife and an executive at Mbaer Merchant Bank in Switzerland, was responsible for laundering the money obtained from these operations in European institutions. Both are hiding in London, seeking refuge amid tensions between the governments of the United Kingdom and Venezuela, which keep them safe from deportation.
Bonelli had an international arrest warrant since last year and was actively being sought by Interpol. Alongside the Argentine are José Luis Chávez Calva, Rodrigo Guerena Bobadilla, Joaquín Leal Jimenez, Alessandro Bazzoni, and Siri Evjemo-Nysveen, with the last two as heads of the managerial structure.
Bazzoni and the Mexican Leal Jimenez were operators in the oil theft via PDVSA (with the endorsement of the former Oil Minister, Tareck El Aissami). Siri Evjemo-Nysveen, Bazzoni’s wife and a Swiss Mbaer Merchant Bank executive, handled laundering the money from these operations in European institutions. Both are hiding in London, seeking protection amid the existing tensions between the UK and Venezuela that keep them from deportation.