The Attorney General of Venezuela issued arrest warrants for five international operatives linked to the Pdvsa-Crypto scheme, including one Italian, three Mexicans, and one Argentinian. Three names are well-known: Alessandro Bazzoni, Joaquín Leal Jiménez, and José Luis Chávez Calva.
Casto Ocando | Primer Informe
The Attorney General of Venezuela has issued arrest warrants for five international operatives involved in the corruption scheme related to the oil commercialization of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (Pdvsa), marking the first official action involving individuals of other nationalities.
The arrest warrant was signed by the National Prosecutor 73 against Money Laundering, Financial and Economic Crimes, Jean Karin López Ruiz, and affects the operatives Alessandro Bazzoni from Italy; Mexicans Joaquín Leal Jiménez, José Luis Chávez Calva, and Rodrigo Guerena Bobadilla; and Argentinian Jorge Germán Bonelli.
According to the document from Prosecutor 73, López Ruiz, obtained by Primer Informe, the arrest warrant is based on “the alleged commission of crimes related to the trafficking and illicit trade of strategic resources or materials, money laundering, and conspiracy,” as well as “the crime of aggravated smuggling.”
This arrest warrant relates to Money Laundering, Financial and Economic Crimes against operatives Alessandro Bazzoni, Joaquín Leal Jiménez, José Luis Chávez Calva, Rodrigo Guerena Bobadilla, and Jorge Germán Bonelli.
Both Alessandro Bazzoni and Joaquín Leal Jiménez were sanctioned in June 2020 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for their involvement in a scheme to evade sanctions against Pdvsa through a group of companies.
Bazzoni and Leal Jiménez are also described as close associates of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who is considered by Washington to be a frontman for dictator Nicolás Maduro and is currently imprisoned in Florida for corruption and money laundering.
Bazzoni “played a crucial role in coordinating the buying and selling of Venezuelan-origin crude oil to Pdvsa. Following Saab’s arrest in June 2020 in Cape Verde and Leal’s designation by OFAC, Bazzoni took on the central coordinating role in the ongoing scheme to mediate the resale of Venezuelan-origin crude oil from Pdvsa and charter ships willing to go to Venezuela to load oil,” stated the Treasury Department in the sanctions document.
Meanwhile, according to another document from the U.S. Treasury, Joaquín Leal Jiménez “is a fundamental conduit between Libre Abordo, Schlager Business Group and its owners, and Pdvsa and Saab. Leal has been coordinating the buying and selling of Venezuelan-origin crude oil from Pdvsa and its subsidiary, PdVSA Petróleo, S.A., providing knowledge of the global oil sector and facilitating transportation and resale to buyers.”
Additionally, operator José Luis Chávez Calva has been implicated in a scheme to move billions of dollars stemming from Pdvsa’s corruption through European banks.
According to reports from Primer Informe, the funds moved by Chávez Calva correspond to the marketing of 150 tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude oil organized by Bazzoni, Greek shipowner George Moundreas, and Italian broker Erik Roveta.
Argentine Jorge Germán Bonelli appears as an executive of Ragnhild Capital Inc., incorporated in October 2017 in Panama, where Alessandro Bazzoni is also listed as an executive.
This firm also lists Vanessa Natalia Ortiz, known as Bazzoni’s assistant, as an executive.
Primer Informe could not determine the connection of Mexican Rodrigo Guerena Bobadilla to the Pdvsa-Crypto scheme.
The prosecuting attorney in this case, Jean Karin López Ruiz, has his own background.
In 2019, López was identified as a close associate of Prosecutor Tarek William Saab and was linked to the closure of the portal Venepress.
In October 2020, López Ruiz presented the charges that led to the arrest of journalist Roland Carreño for alleged financing of terrorism. According to Carreño’s defense, the prosecutor did not present “evidence to support” the charge against the journalist, which constitutes a case of persecution for political reasons, given that Carreño was a member of the opposition party Voluntad Popular.
Taken from Revealed arrest warrant against international operators in the Pdvsa-Crypto scheme – Primer Informe