By Eligio Rojas
The Public Ministry has requested to initiate a trial for 22 individuals detained as part of the Anti-Corruption Operation launched by the justice system on March 17, in the case known as PDVSA Crypto.
On that date, 81 arrest warrants were issued, 61 of which have been executed against individuals allegedly involved in corruption cases detected within the Judiciary, municipal governments, and state-owned companies such as Pdvsa, Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana (CVG), and Cartones de Venezuela (Cartoven).
The majority of those arrested are linked to the oil industry, totaling 41 individuals, according to various statements made by the prosecutor, Tarek William Saab.
Of the 61 in custody, the Public Ministry has completed its investigation for 22 individuals: 13 businessmen and nine public officials.
These 22 individuals were organized into three groups that conspired to defraud Pdvsa, as indicated by the Public Ministry’s investigation, which was supported by evidence prepared by the National Police Against Corruption.
This fraud amounts to $5,550,544,290.74, based on data presented by the Prosecutor’s Office in the petition submitted to the 2nd Special Control Court of Caracas, which has jurisdiction over Corruption and Associated Crimes, to request the trial against the 22.
The Prosecutor’s Office states in the accusatory document that these 22 individuals were part of “a network of corruption made up of public officials who, leveraging their positions and authority, executed parallel oil operations through the assignment of crude oil shipments (vessels) by Pdvsa to the National Superintendence of Cryptoassets (Sunacrip) and to private parties, without any control.”
The proceeds from the sale of that assigned oil did not enter the Republic but were diverted through crypto-assets and transactions carried out by 74 mercantile companies.
Leading this network of corruption is Colonel José Antonio Pérez Suárez, Vice President of the state oil company, who ordered the construction of an office “irregularly at Pdvsa-La Campiña.”
This office was named the Special Work Unit, where Yamil Alejandro Martínez Núñez and Heinrich Chapellín Biundo operated, “handling classified information from Pdvsa without being part of the staff, where access was restricted by a security system allowing only these individuals to enter, managing significant amounts of cash, and serving as the space where meetings were held with this group of financial operators,” states the Prosecutor’s Office.
The Public Ministry details the names of those who made up this corruption network for whom they request a trial.
Among them are Joselit Ramírez (former head of Sunacrip), José Agustín Ramos Chirinos (President of Pdvsa-Puertos), Odoardo José Bordones, Jesús Enrique Salazar Querales, officials attached to the Vice Presidency of Commerce and Supply.
Additionally, the Prosecutor’s Office seeks to prosecute Rajiv Mosqueda and Renny Barrientos, both affiliated with Sunacrip.
These officials operated in conjunction with businessmen Manuel Meneces, Roger Ramírez, Juan Manuel Alfonso López, Rafael Perdomo, Vicente Perdomo, Roger Perdomo, Daniel Prieto, Kristhonfer Vivas, Johana Torres, Alejandro Arroyo, Bernardo Arosio, Ximena Parada, Fernando Bermúdez, Eduardo Noriega, José Luis Fernandiz Laya, Railín Elizabeth Yépez Jaimes, Rodolfo Moleiro, Alejandro Londoño, Olvany Gaspari, Leonardo Enrique Torres, and Yuravic del Valle Ravelo.
The officials who worked with Pérez Suárez did not report to Pdvsa’s accounts the payments for the assignments of service stations and crude oil shipments. Instead, “the managing companies reconciled directly with the departments headed by these defendants through bank deposits, the Patria platform (subsidized and comprehensive), and cash. Furthermore, this individual (Pérez Suárez) authorized payments to contractors without proper registration in the SAP System, thus allowing third parties to appropriate resources belonging to the Venezuelan State,” states the Public Ministry.
Bribes of the Tren
Deputy Hugbel Roa is also mentioned in the accusatory document submitted by the Public Ministry to the relevant court.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Roa acted as an intermediary between businessmen and Pérez Suárez.
In another document, the Prosecutor’s Office requested to prosecute Cristóbal Cornieles and José Maxcimino Márquez García, former president of the Penal Judicial Circuit of Caracas and former 4th anti-terrorism judge. Both are accused of receiving bribes in exchange for favoring the release granted to Oswaldo Cheremos, identified as a partner of the Tren del Llano.