From now on, anything that Francisco Convit does, anywhere in the world, must be evaluated in light of the fact that the United States has filed criminal charges against him. Criminal. Charges.
I make an exception for Convit in particular. Convit has detailed knowledge of break-ins at my apartment, theft of laptops, and threats to my family. He is a notorious member of the Derwick Associates gang. The gang label is appropriate: besides Convit, partners like Alejandro Betancourt (identified in the conspiracy as CONSPIRATOR 2) and Pedro Trebbau, although not explicitly mentioned in the indictment, are deeply involved in criminal activities. Everything they do or have done qualifies as criminal activity. Convit’s indictment is merely a sample, a drop in an ocean of rampant international corruption.
The indictment provides details of a large conspiracy carried out by the usual suspects. In summary, it is a carbon copy of another scandal exposed here, at the center of another criminal investigation involving some of the same cast of characters (Oberto bros, Gorrin, Villalobos, Ramirez, de Beaumont, Meinl Bank, Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique, etc.). Sources indicate that Betancourt also intervened in that.
Raul Gorrin (CONSPIRATOR 7), for example, should be having headaches right now. His involvement in Convit’s money laundering scheme is by no means the only criminal transaction he has conducted (see here). It’s only a matter of time before Gorrin is named in even bigger corruption schemes that will soon be made public.
Gazprombank receives a mention. Convit and Betancourt are partners of Gazprombank, under a shell company called Gazprombank Latin America Ventures B.V. Sources in Switzerland have revealed that Gazprombank was sanctioned in Switzerland due to its oversight in the anti-money laundering guidelines involving deals with Convit and Betancourt in Venezuela.
However, it’s not just Swiss authorities that are behind Convit et al:
“The Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division provided substantial assistance in this matter and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the UK National Crime Agency, and law enforcement authorities in Italy, Spain, and Malta provided assistance.” (bold added)
To complicate matters, Luis Carlos de León recently pleaded guilty in another seemingly unrelated corruption scheme. De León and Nervis Villalobos played a decisive role in awarding multimillion-dollar no-bid procurement contracts to Convit and Betancourt in a separate scheme. It is certain that De León and Villalobos will turn against Convit and Betancourt. As one of the accused thugs said in an intercepted conversation, everything they do is being watched and investigated.
There is an interesting mention regarding bribes to U.S. law firms hired by PDVSA. Considering the latest on the PDVSA US Litigation Trust, it no longer seems far-fetched to suggest that U.S. lawyers are also involved in paying bribes/corruption to secure favorable deals from Venezuela.