The Attorney General’s Office of Ecuador has initiated legal actions against one of Alex Saab’s companies, as indicated in the press release titled “Prosecutor Blocks $57 Million from Alleged Money Laundering”: The Attorney General’s Office has started three different legal procedures regarding alleged illicit operations linked to money laundering by the companies Pifo Garden, Global Construction Fund, and Escastel.
These actions led to the blocking, in favor of the State, of 57 million dollars in cash, along with two million in assets and real estate, which were held by the investigated companies.
The irregularities were discovered after it was revealed through the Central Bank of Ecuador that these companies, operating under the Regional Compensation Unified Payment System (Sucre), reported foreign trade operations with Venezuela but involved fictitious and inflated exports. This allowed them to receive large sums of money that were then diverted to tax havens.
Another note published by the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office, titled “Foglocons Case: Judge Orders Preventive Detention for Two Individuals Over Alleged Money Laundering,” sheds light on the illicit activities that the Global Construction Fund is allegedly involved in Ecuador:
The company Global Construction Fund S.A. (FOGLOCONS), established in Ecuador in September 2012, received transfers totaling 159.9 million dollars between December 2012 and March 2013 via the S.U.C.R.E.
However, the report from the National Customs Service states that the difference between what the company exported and what it received from this economic transaction would justify only 3.1 million dollars of the total received through transfers.
“Given that no real exports occurred and that over 159 million dollars were received, the origin of that asset is illegal. Front companies have been created, and corporate, economic, commercial, and foreign trade operations have been simulated, involving fictitious and overvalued exports of goods from Ecuador to Venezuela,” emphasized prosecutor Jaramillo.
During the charges hearing, it was also revealed that invoices were cloned in Ecuador to justify both the purchase of currencies in Venezuela and the illicit transactions. Thus, the invoices presented to Ecuador’s Customs “do not reflect the business or the value indicated on those same invoices in Venezuela.”
Once this company receives the money, it initiates a phase known as “placement” through payments to fake suppliers and customers, which enables the exit of money from Ecuador through transfers of: 232,000; 10,000,000; 21,000,000; 4,000,000; and 9,000,000 dollars, the prosecutor explained.
Both Alex Saab and his lawyers have claimed that there is no connection between FOGLOCONS Ecuador and other companies with the same name registered in Venezuela and Colombia. Saab and his lawyers argue that Saab’s name does not appear in the registration documents of FOGLOCONS in Ecuador. Now that the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office has started legal actions against FOGLOCONS in that country for exports to Venezuela, one must ask: is Alex Saab related to this company in Ecuador or not?
The Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office has clearly stated that fictitious exports from FOGLOCONS totaling $159 million are destined for Venezuela. In Venezuela, Saab represents the Global Construction Fund of Colombia, a company registered on November 24, 2011. Just four days later, on November 28, 2011, Saab appeared in a bilateral meeting between Venezuela and Colombia: …within the framework of the bilateral agreement signed by Santos and Chavez, the Global Construction Fund of Venezuela was contracted by the Ministry of Light Industries and Commerce to supply 25,000 prefabricated housing kits for a value of $475 million. In the first phase of this agreement, companies from the Global Construction Fund based in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador (countries where Saab has subsidiaries with similar names) would participate. The second phase of the agreement between FOGLOCONS Colombia and Venezuela (through the Ministry of Habitat and Housing) stipulates the construction of 25,000 homes, with a reported cost of around $210 million additional. The third phase involves the production of materials in Venezuela through the construction of factories. The fourth phase includes training, and the fifth phase involves marketing. Additionally, the Vargas state administration has awarded other contracts – the budget for which is unknown – to the Global Construction Fund Venezuela to construct a shopping center, a baseball stadium, and a sports coliseum.
In Venezuela, there is another company called Global Construction Fund. The National Contractors Registry of Venezuela identifies FGDC LATAM 2012, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, from Spain, as owning 100% of the shares. This Spanish company is, in turn, owned by FGDC Malta Holdings, a company registered in Malta that belongs to Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas, a partner of Alex Saab. Unfortunately, for Saab’s credibility, the Ecuadorian press has reported the identities of the two individuals named by the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office involved in the money laundering crime: The judge of the Northern Penal Judicial Unit No. 1 in Guayaquil, Álex Silva, ordered preventive detention for two foreign citizens over alleged irregular operations of foreign trade between Ecuador and Venezuela that would constitute the crime of money laundering.
The precautionary measure was requested yesterday by prosecutor José Luis Jaramillo during the charges hearing against Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez, of Venezuelan nationality, and Enrique Pulido Vargas, Colombian. Both, according to the prosecutor, appear as shareholders of the company Global Construction Fund S.A. (Fodocons S.A.), established in Ecuador in September 2012. The company allegedly received transfers totaling 159.9 million dollars from December 2012 to March 2013 through the Regional Compensation Unified Payment System (Sucre).
Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez is an attorney for a couple of companies registered in Spain related to Saab.
Apart from that, the National Contractors Registry of Venezuela identifies among the “Board Members and Legal Representatives” of Global Construction Fund:
– Miguel Angel Medina Acosta, Executive Director (ID V-8965342);
– Menahem Michel Edery, President Director (ID E-82013466).
Menahem Michel Edery is also the owner of 25% of the shares in a company called THERMO GROUP, which acts as an intermediary in imports between the Global Construction Fund in Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. According to the list of currencies settled with importing companies published by CADIVI, THERMO GROUP has received a total of 256,697,100 dollars. In summary:
1) The two individuals indicted by the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office (Sánchez Yánez and Pulido Vargas) are partners and attorneys of Alex Saab;
2) The director of Global Construction Fund of Venezuela (Edery) is a partner of an intermediary company (THERMO GROUP) that has requested and received currencies to pay for imports to Global Construction Fund in Peru and Ecuador.
These are undeniable proofs that there is a connection between Saab and the companies named Global Construction Fund in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.
After the ridiculous claims from Saab’s Colombian and Venezuelan lawyers, and their refusal to answer in writing the series of questions I posed about their operations, we can only wait for the authorities to determine the responsibilities in this case. What is certain is that Saab’s companies did not participate in any bidding in Venezuela: all contracts were awarded without fair competition, as is characteristic of the Chavista regime.
[UPDATE 03/12/2013 19:11GMT]: The readers of INFODIO are an inexhaustible source of information, and I extend my sincere gratitude for sending me everything that you share (please keep it up). Now it turns out that Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez (Venezuelan ID 11.510.134), Alex Saab’s partner at the Global Construction Fund in Ecuador, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the Attorney General, is the brother of Jaime Francisco Sánchez Yánez (Venezuelan ID 12.360.405), a Venezuelan-Ecuadorian thug who acts as a special advisor to none other than the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. This new individual, who seems to carry up to five passports, enjoys threatening the press and appears as “advisor 3” to the Interior Ministry of Ecuador.
But that’s not even the worst thing; after all, the Sánchez Yánez brothers have a Venezuelan mother. The worst part is that one of Alex Saab’s brothers has already received Venezuelan nationality from the Chavista regime. On what basis does this individual have Venezuelan citizenship? Another case like that of the terrorist Rodrigo Granda?