Zuzana Melicherova, partner of Ricardo José Morón Hernández, has seemingly vanished from the internet.
However, science has accomplished what was once thought to be impossible.
Photos of Zuzana Melicherova with friends at Boston University have disappeared, just like the photographic records of tournaments at the Altamira Tennis Club, the memories of good times at nightlife venues in Caracas such as Sawu and Rosalinda, fitness and yoga sessions, visits to jewelry stores, and meet-ups at restaurants and lounges in the Kristoff Hotel in Maracaibo with friends related to the health sector, fitness, and the entertainment industry, reported El Nacional.
Her social media profiles have stopped being public. Only on a few third-party accounts are there images that allow a glimpse of the Slovak-Venezuelan business partner of Ricardo José in companies registered in Panama and Slovakia.
Zuzigucci, as she prefers to be called on social media, has maintained a close relationship with individuals in the medical and entertainment worlds. Friendships she shares with her sister-in-law María José Morón Hernández, with whom she also shares a passion for fine dining, the socialite scene, Gucci pieces, and meticulous personal grooming.
Maria José Morón Hernández and her sister-in-law Zuzana Melicherová, alongside friends dedicated to fitness.
Zuzana Melicherova with two friends enjoying a social event
María José Morón Hernández with two friends at an event held at Club El Lago
One of the best tennis players of her time in Venezuela, she is remembered for her consistency and discipline, as well as for her European features. She never went unnoticed. Her special aura set her apart both on the court and in her loyalty to luxury and exclusivity. Since childhood, she lived a life without limitations. Her father, Rudolf Mellicher, indulged her in everything. His work with Vitkovice Interamericana, a company dedicated to supplying industrial materials for mining, quarries, and large constructions, along with his role as an entrepreneur with Angesocks, a textile-related company that received authorization from Cadivi for the purchase of 16.4 million dollars between 2004 and 2012, allowed her to enjoy a princess-like life in a country that was rapidly plunging into chaos and misery.
Mellicher, who shared the passion for tennis with his daughter on the courts of Altamira Tennis Club, remains an active businessman with his wife Jarmila. Five months after the sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department on Ricardo and Santiago, for “their sustained support for the corruption of Nicolás Maduro Moros’ illegitimate regime, and for actions that enabled an illicit gold scheme and flagrant public corruption”, Vitkovice and Jarmila registered a company in Slovakia called Avila Investment S.R.O, focused on “financial leasing, granting loans or credits with resources obtained exclusively without public callouts and without a public offer of real estate securities.”
Zuzana and Ricardo José also registered a company in Slovakia, contributing 2,500 euros each. Their company’s name, similar to their in-laws, hints at the capital of Venezuela. It’s called Ccs Investment S.R.O. – obviously, Ccs stands for Caracas – and unlike the company of the Melicher spouses, it had four partners: Ricardo José Morón, Zuzana Melicherová, and companies Fitap and Locoit, both connected to other businesses.
The company was established a year and five months prior to the U.S. authorities sanctioning the Morón Hernández brothers and associating them globally with Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, their half-brothers Yoswal Alexander and Yosser Daniel Gavidia Flores, offspring of Cilia Flores’ first marriage, and with Alex Saab. Zuzana Melicherová served as the executive manager from its creation until March 10, 2021, a month and twenty days before its dissolution. As of June 7, 2022, the company has been formally eliminated from the records in Slovakia. Avila Investment, owned by Ricardo José’s in-laws, still maintains its active business ID: 53421591.
Like shell companies, Avila Investment S.R.O and Ccs Investent S.R.O. not only share a reference to Caracas but also have the same address (Rudolfa Mocka 1/C Bratislava – Karlova Ves district 841 04) and the type of business they operate: “Financial leasing, granting loans or credits with resources obtained exclusively without public invitations and without a public offer of real estate securities, pawn shops, intermediation of credit or loan concessions based on resources obtained exclusively without public invitations and without a public offer of real estate securities, factoring and forfaiting, administrative services, intermediation activities in the realm of services and business consultancy, organizational and economic activities.”
In 2012, Zuzana Melicherova registered the company ZMM Florida Real Estate Corporation in Florida, identified by the number P12000085581 and located on the exclusive Brickell avenue. Apartment 2515 of tower 1, at 475 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL, 33131, transferred from Ricardo J. Morón to Zuzana’s company, and shortly after, to United LB LLC, which is registered under Luis Ramón Avilés Borja.
The property, valued at over $700,000, still appears as a reference from the Morón-Melicherová family in some databases.
The partnership of Ricardo Morón Hernández and Zuzana Melicherova began in Panama with the company Jose Valeri Hermanos S.A., identified by number 817964. Ricardo Morón Hernández served as president, Zuzana Melicherová as director, and Zulay Infante as secretary. The company operated during the peak years of the Morón brothers’ closeness to the Maduro-Flores family, particularly when Santiago, the youngest of the Morón Hernández, worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from which he exited on March 15, 2017. At that time, they weren’t well-known and preferred to stay under the radar. Very little information leaked out. Their circle was loyal and remains so.
A Zulia lawyer who studied with Santiago Morón and has been a friend since they were young, preferring to remain anonymous, stated that the Moróns are well-liked people. “They were always kind, polite, and very attentive to me. I don’t know anything about their businesses or their work. They’ve always been hardworking individuals, but I have no idea what they do. All I know is that their family is beautiful and they are very close-knit, like most Zulia families. Sometimes they send private messages to friends, but without mentioning their occupations.” That’s where it ends.
With money, power, and fraternal bonds, they built a network of loyal supporters with connections from the universities where they studied Engineering and Law, friends from clubs and parties in Maracaibo and Caracas, along with some businesspeople and politicians, as well as people from Caracas nightlife. Even those friendships that have marked differences and distance don’t dare to share details about the world where the Morón Hernández brothers operate.
“I did know her, but I want to forget that phase of my life and I don’t talk about it. Excuse me,” was the response from a doctor who was a very close friend and going-out companion of Zuzana Melicherová.
The majority of those who have interacted with Ricardo and Santiago claim they do not recognize them. They have their reasons. Publicly, they are critics of the dictatorship, enemies of the regime, yet in private they are loyal, down on one knee, to their Zulia friends.
Out of 15 contacted individuals (lawyers, journalists, businesspeople, stylists, artists, politicians, coaches) from the social circle of the Morón brothers, none admitted to knowing them. “I’ve never heard of them. I believe they’re not from Maracaibo,” was the blunt response from a former regional business leader. Closest friends even claim memory issues as an excuse for not recalling anyone with such peculiar last names.
“What did you say her name is? How do you spell it exactly? Is there anything about her on Google? Can you send me a link because I don’t know who you are talking about? I’m not from Maracaibo. There might be some confusion; it must be someone else with the same name as me,” was the response from a Caracas entrepreneur in the events industry, a friend of Zuzana Melicherová.
Within her circle, famous figures and influencers from fitness, beauty, gastronomy, health, and light living, all with tens of thousands of followers on social media, are closing ranks and denying knowing someone who years ago was their training, birthday party, and family celebration friend.
“I’m against that government. I’m not with anyone close to chavismo. I don’t know them,” replied a person from their friend group. They all seem fully sure that there’s nothing online linking them: “Neither on Instagram nor anywhere else is there anything because I don’t know them.” Nevertheless, the few public posts that are still found on social media contradict this.