Last week, Palomo Linares passed away in Spain. The renowned bullfighter and partner of Lilia Lopez (mother of Alejandro Betancourt, the head of Derwick Associates) played a crucial role in facilitating connections that led to significant money laundering activities by Derwick Associates in Spain.
I took a jab at the bolichicos by tweeting my “condolences” to Betancourt’s mother and sister, as the late bullfighter was also the father of Betancourt’s sister’s boyfriend. It’s a typical Spanish storyline, where family ties get tangled in unexpected ways.
My tweet must have stirred up a hornet’s nest. Francisco Convit, who recently came to light as owning 50% of Derwick Associates, responded by calling me a “dirty rat” and claimed that, unlike Palomo who is remembered fondly, no one would think of me after I’m gone. I replied that, surely, that would be true, because it wasn’t me who misappropriated over a billion dollars in public funds in Venezuela.
The subsequent Twitter exchange was quite tedious. The usual chavista accusations resurfaced, calling me a “hired pen” and attributing my supposed mental issues to inherited traits. Almost immediately, they began referencing my father’s suicide repeatedly to justify their slander about my “depression”. In chavista Venezuela, mockery of mental health and family tragedies seems to be the norm.
Convit claims to know a great deal about my mental state, even asserting awareness of my thoughts. In his tweet, he mentioned, “when your mind starts telling you that you’re useless, to question why would (your) daddy do what he did, or your wanting to slit your wrists.”
Freud would surely admire such claims.
However, what truly caught my attention was not the usual barbs, as chavistas and their associates have a long history of making unsubstantiated yet nasty claims about me. These range from reviving my late mother to claiming my sister is involved with Hugo Chavez (even while she lives on another continent), to my mental challenges, as well as absurd insinuations about my personal life.
Convit also speculated that the break-in at my flat on November 17, 2014, was orchestrated by me as a way of seeking attention.
This piques my interest. Convit’s Twitter tirade included questions about my alleged “unemployment” and claims about my extravagant lifestyle in London.
How does Convit know anything about my work status?
How does he presume to know about my living “like a king” in London, the most expensive city in the world?
Upon seeing these tweets, I promptly contacted the case investigator from London’s Metropolitan Police. The wild accusations about me supposedly terrorising my own children and faking a break-in fit the profile of a disturbed individual. But what was troubling were the repetitive references to my employment status and lifestyle.
I have my own theory. My family and I were likely the subjects of illegal surveillance in and around London, lasting for months leading up to the attack on our flat. Both my wife and children, along with myself, were photographed in various locations. Anonymous individuals posted pictures of our daily commutes and routines across different websites and platforms. I have compiled a collection of these images and have conducted extensive research into metadata and timestamps.
I am aware that parties in Caracas and even India were involved. Threats of sexual violence against my children were sent from Tbilisi on two occasions. Defamation tasks were probably assigned through micro-tasking platforms, with at least one of the men who assaulted us likely residing in Spain.
Convit possesses all this information. He knows when we leave home in the mornings and when we return in the evenings. He’s aware of the location of my children’s school; in fact, pictures of it have been posted online. The defamation campaigns that started a week following the break-in echoed Convit’s own notions about my lifestyle and supposed unemployment.
How can someone who has never met me, lacks mutual acquaintances, and resides in Caracas, claim to know my life in London? This is the clearest indication of Derwick Associates’ direct involvement in the theft of my laptops, the harassment of my family, and the break-in. I have documentary evidence showing that their dealings with Venezuelan institutions were rooted in nepotism and rampant corruption. Not to mention, I have public admissions and an extensive Twitter archive full of details about my life that only someone intimately familiar with me could know.
Even someone of Convit’s supposed intellect should eventually come to the realization that self-incrimination is not good business practice, especially considering Venezuela’s current circumstances. The entire country has recognized him and his partners as symbols of the failures under chavista rule. Keep in mind, these individuals now travel the globe portraying themselves as respectable investors and industry leaders. As a result, Convit deleted his Twitter account. Regardless, I preserved copies of the incriminating tweets and reported all findings to the Metropolitan Police and Twitter.
Convit, or his social media manager, later emailed me claiming he no longer had a Twitter account. Almost at the same time, his @franciscoconvi7 account was deleted. Just a coincidence, I’m sure… I have a comprehensive understanding of Derwick Associates’ global operations, investments, and assets. Chavismo won’t last forever, nor will Derwick’s impunity.