Last night, the Department of Justice (DoJ) charged Raúl Gorrín with money laundering. Readers of this site were already aware that this was coming. Alejandro Andrade, Claudia Díaz Guillén, and Adrián Velásquez (both awaiting extradition to Venezuela from Spain) are co-conspirators, along with Gabriel Arturo Jiménez Aray from Banco Peravia in the Dominican Republic. Given the amount of nonsense being published about corruption in Venezuela these days by supposed experts who don’t understand half of it, it is crucial to reiterate that Gorrín’s corrupt schemes did not end with Andrade: to this day, Gorrín is the most powerful boligarco in Venezuela, without exception.
Maikel Moreno, the president of the Supreme Court of Justice in Venezuela, is under Gorrín’s control. Moreno’s recent private jet trip to Turkey cost nearly $400,000 and was allegedly paid for by Gustavo Perdomo, Gorrín’s brother-in-law and business partner. Gorrín established a legal protection network many years ago, assisted by the husband of Luisa Ortega. Gorrín ensures that Moreno does all sorts of things for his “clients,” but the crux of the “business” is extorting millions of dollars from boligarcas with pending issues with Venezuelan “justice.” Gorrín managed to have Moreno dismiss—via Supreme Court judicial review—the corruption investigation against Nervis Villalobos and Javier Alvarado. Gorrín has done the same for the Enforcers from Derwick: Francisco Convit, Pedro Trebbau, and Alejandro Betancourt.
Gorrín is the conspirator no. 7 in the $1.2 billion money laundering scheme of Francisco Convit and Matthias Krull at PDVSA. It’s not surprising, then, that the fugitive Convit and Betancourt (the second conspirator) live splendidly in Venezuela, completely carefree of issues with the U.S. Department of Justice. With the support of Cilia Flores and Nicolás Maduro, Gorrín succeeded in having Moreno grant the PETROSUR concession to Alejandro Betancourt and his Spanish appointees. Gorrín retains a stake in that Joint Venture between the Venezuelan Oil Corporation and Iberoamerican Petroleum Investments Ltd. Gorrín’s Globovisión and Betancourt’s sunglasses company, Hawkers, retained Brian Ballard’s lobbying firm. While some “experts” claim that Gorrín acts as a liaison negotiating an agreement between the Maduro and Trump administrations, the Department of Justice would likely disagree.
Gorrín has become one of Cilia’s most trusted lieutenants. Cilia Flores remains, possibly, the most powerful person in Venezuela. This grants Gorrín unprecedented access to all levels of power in Venezuela. Sources report that Gorrín sits in on PDVSA board meetings where potential energy and financial agreements are discussed.
Gorrín used to be a partner of Luis Oberto in money laundering schemes involving Rafael Ramírez, Nervis Villalobos, and Alejandro Betancourt. Gorrín’s association with Juan Domingo Cordero and this associate’s companies with Germán Rivero Zerpa (the personal banker of Wilmer Ruperti) may potentially cause more legal headaches. A money laundering investigation involving Charles Henry de Beaumont and Joseph Benhamou, hinted at by prosecutor Michael Nadler, may likely see Gorrín resurfacing as a co-conspirator.
While the Department of Justice’s recent push against Venezuelan corruption is commendable, it remains a mystery why some boligarcas were declared fugitives (Convit, Villalobos, Alvarado, Isturiz) but no red alerts / notifications were issued to INTERPOL. For instance, sources in Spain report that OFAC-designated boss, Samark López Bello, visits that country (most recent trip with Carlos Aguilera) and no arrests are made. The same situation applies to Alejandro Betancourt and Orlando Alvarado.