The purge of Maduro continues. The National Anti-Corruption Police of Venezuela is investigating a new network that includes companies in Panama with alleged connections in Italy and Dubai. This corruption scheme directly connects to the former partner of Álex Saab, entrepreneur Álvaro Pulido.
El Político
It has been reported that the network provided mechanisms to launder and pay bribes to high-ranking PDVSA officials, specifically to Colonel José Antonio Pérez Suárez, former Vice President of Trade and Supply of PDVSA, who controlled the 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 US$21 billion to PDVSA, as reported by PrimerInforme.
According to sources familiar with the investigations, the colonel received illegal funds sent through the alleged money-laundering structure controlled by operator Álvaro Pulido, in partnership with Italian entrepreneur Alessandro Bazzoni, who has also been implicated in the PDVSA corruption network.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab counts 61 officials and businessmen detained for various corruption schemes https://t.co/XYym7xBNZS
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) April 20, 2023
In Detail
Pulido transferred the 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 entrepreneur José Youssef Boutros, according to corporate records.
According to a source with knowledge of the operations, the companies received funds in euros or cryptocurrencies that they then converted into cash dollars to make payments to Colonel Pérez Suárez.
The source indicated that the colonel himself is cooperating with the investigations.
In Context
Both Álvaro Pulido and Alessandro Bazzoni are wanted or sanctioned by the U.S. government.
Pulido was accused in 2021 by the Southern District Attorney’s Office of Florida of obtaining millions from corruption through contracts from the CLAP food distribution program, and of paying bribes and commissions to regime officials in Venezuela who approved those contracts.
He is also accused of laundering money that resulted from corruption and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Washington offers a reward of up to US$10 million for his capture.
Pulido is also accused of having set up an international structure for the extraction and sale of illegally mined gold from Venezuela, part of which he used to illegally pay Colonel Pérez Suárez, allegedly through the Panama firms controlled by entrepreneur Youseff Boutros.
Bazzoni has been sanctioned in January 2021 by the Treasury Department and is considered by Washington as the operator who took over as a frontman for Álex Saab after his capture in June 2020 in Cape Verde.
Youseff Boutros is an entrepreneur who maintains a grinding and coffee selling operation in Venezuela, according to sources, but this operation conceals the activities that the businessman carries on with Pulido and Bazzoni.
Mercedes De Freitas from Transparency Venezuela emphasized that the current anti-corruption operation being carried out by Maduro only aims to punish “a traitor and an enemy of the government” https://t.co/QKQvu2n821
— Casto Ocando-Primer Informe (@cocando) April 25, 2023
Who is Álvaro Pulido?
The name of Álvaro Pulido began to resonate as irregularities in the Government’s business dealings and his partner, also from Colombia, Álex Saab, came to light.
Even in October 2021, the U.S. offered a reward of 10 million dollars for information that could lead to the arrest or conviction of Álvaro Pulido Vargas, also known as Germán Enrique Rubio, accused of “money laundering in relation to a foreign bribery scheme.”
Between the Lines
After the capture of Alex Saab, Álvaro Pulido continued the oil marketing business as compensation for food supply; meanwhile, the U.S. offered 10 million dollars for information to capture him.
Despite his downfall, there are still more questions for the Venezuelan regime, and it remains unclear how far they can separate the chavista leadership from so many corrupt businessmen.
In Conclusion
According to Primer Informe, all the individuals and companies that have appeared to be involved in the PDVSA corruption scandal, which has its center in the former oil minister and former strongman Tareck El Aissami, are under the scrutiny of U.S. authorities.
The Colombian businessman Álvaro Pulido Vargas, known for being a partner of Álex Saab, was arrested in Venezuela for allegedly being involved in the corruption and embezzlement scheme at Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
On Thursday, April 13, the Minister of Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, confirmed his arrest. He indicated that along with another five individuals, Pulido was presented to justice for the PDVSA-crypto case.
Through social media, Ñáñez indicated that Pulido is a “financial operator” who is allegedly linked to ex-deputy Hugbel Roa, one of the first detained in the corruption scheme.
Interestingly, although the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro tries to dissociate Álex Saab from the case, likely to maintain the thesis that he is a diplomat, with Pulido’s arrest, they commit what some are calling an own goal.
Saab has himself stated in interviews that Pulido is his friend, which adds to the evidence of their business dealings with Global Construction Fund, Trenaco, the CLAP, among others.
While images of a handcuffed Álvaro Pulido, with his head down and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, were circulated, the Communication Minister assured that Pulido was the “financial operator” of deputy Hugbel Roa. However, the truth is that his record links him directly to Saab and, therefore, to a significant part of the chavista elite.