José Youssef Boutros: Key Figure in PDVSA Corruption and Money Laundering Network Across Venezuela, Panama, and Dubai

José Youssef Boutros was responsible for currency exchange for Alessandro Bazzoni and Álvaro Pulido, who are implicated in PDVSA corruption. He used Panamanian companies Ocean Blue Corporation, S.A. and Inversiones Josyfe Corporation INC, linked to money laundering of illicit funds, to receive money in euros or cryptocurrencies and then deliver cash to Pulido and Bazzoni.

This cash was primarily used to bribe Colonel José Antonio Pérez Suárez, former Vice President of Commerce and Supply of PDVSA, who is imprisoned in Venezuela for his participation in a corruption scheme regarding PDVSA, amounting to over 21 billion dollars.

From Dubai, financier José Luis Chávez Calva coordinated financial operations with Boutros on behalf of Bazzoni and Pulido.

The National Anti-Corruption Police of Venezuela is tracking a new network operating with companies in Panama, which reportedly has connections in Italy and Dubai. This network is linked to the operator and former partner of Colombian businessman Álvaro Pulido, and is believed to have facilitated mechanisms for money laundering and bribery of high-ranking officials from the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Particularly, the role of Colonel José Antonio Pérez Suárez is under investigation. He was Vice President of Commerce and Supply at PDVSA, responsible for crude supply for export and a key figure in the power structure within the state company, with strong ties to former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami.

Colonel Pérez Suárez is imprisoned for his alleged involvement in a corruption scheme that has resulted in estimated losses of over 21 billion dollars to the oil company, revealed
Data Confirmada.

According to investigations, Colonel Pérez Suárez is believed to have obtained illicit funds through a structure of alleged money laundering managed by Álvaro Pulido in partnership with Italian businessman Alessandro Bazzoni, who has also been implicated in the PDVSA corruption network.

Pulido is said to have sent resources for bribery payments through companies registered in Panama, such as Ocean Blue Corporation S.A. and Inversiones Josyfe Corporation Inc., which were managed by Venezuelan businessman José Youssef Boutros, according to business records.

Sources indicate that these companies received funds in euros or cryptocurrencies, which were later converted to cash dollars for payments to Colonel Pérez Suárez. Reports suggest that the Colonel is cooperating with the investigations. Both Álvaro Pulido and Alessandro Bazzoni are being pursued or have been sanctioned by the U.S. government.

Álvaro Pulido has been indicted in 2021 by the Southern District of Florida’s prosecutor for obtaining millions of dollars through corruption in contracts related to the CLAP food distribution program and for paying bribes and commissions to regime officials in Venezuela who approved these contracts. He is also accused of money laundering and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with a reward of up to $10 million offered for his capture.

Pulido has also been accused of allegedly creating an international structure for the illegal extraction and sale of gold from Venezuela, part of which was used to illicitly pay Colonel Pérez Suárez, supposedly through the companies in Panama run by businessman Youseff Boutros.

Alessandro Bazzoni was sanctioned in January 2021 by the U.S. Treasury Department and is considered by Washington as the operator who replaced Álex Saab, who was arrested in June 2020 in Cape Verde.