Two firms from Panama, among others, were used by operators Álvaro Pulido and Alessandro Bazzoni to make cash payments to Colonel José Antonio Pérez Suárez, former head of Trade and Supply at Pdvsa, new investigations reveal.
SPECIAL | First Report
A new network that includes companies in Panama with alleged connections in Italy and Dubai is under scrutiny by the Venezuelan National Anti-Corruption Police, directly linking to operator and former partner of Alex Saab, Colombian businessman Álvaro Pulido.
According to the investigations, the network provided mechanisms to launder and pay bribes to high-ranking officials at the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, specifically to Colonel José Antonio Pérez Suárez, former vice president of Trade and Supply at Pdvsa, who controlled crude supply for export and was a key player in the power structure within Pdvsa under former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami.
Colonel Pérez Suárez is currently detained for his role in the extensive corruption network that has caused estimated losses of over $21 billion to Pdvsa.
Sources familiar with the investigations indicate that the colonel received illegal funds sent through the alleged money laundering structure controlled by operator Álvaro Pulido, in partnership with Italian businessman Alessandro Bazzoni, who has been implicated in Pdvsa’s corruption network.
Alessandro Bazzoni
José Youssef Boutros
Pulido funneled resources for bribery payments through the firms Ocean Blue Corporation S.A. and Inversiones Josyfe Corporation Inc., both registered in Panama, and controlled by Venezuelan businessman José Youssef Boutros, according to corporate records.
According to a source familiar with the operations, the companies received funds in euros or cryptocurrencies, which were then converted to cash dollars to make payments to Colonel Pérez Suárez.
The source indicated that the colonel himself is cooperating in the investigations.
Both Álvaro Pulido and Alessandro Bazzoni are wanted or sanctioned by the U.S. government.
Pulido was charged in 2021 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida for obtaining millions through corruption via contracts from the CLAP food delivery program, and for paying bribes and commissions to regime officials in Venezuela who approved such contracts. He is also accused of laundering money derived from corruption and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Washington offers a reward of up to $10 million for his capture.
Pulido is also accused of establishing an international structure for the extraction and sale of gold illegally mined from Venezuela, part of which he used to illegitimately pay Colonel Pérez Suárez, allegedly through the firms in Panama controlled by businessman Youseff Boutros.
Bazzoni, on the other hand, was sanctioned in January 2021 by the Treasury Department and is considered by Washington as the operator who took the place of frontman Álex Saab after his capture in June 2020 in Cape Verde.
Youseff Boutros operates a coffee milling and selling business in Venezuela, according to sources, but this operation conceals the activities he maintains with Pulido and Bazzoni.
As reported by Primer Informe, all individuals and companies currently implicated in the Pdvsa corruption scandal, centered around former Oil Minister and power broker Tareck El Aissami, are under the gaze of U.S. authorities.
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