Roberto Añez, David Brillembourg Capriles, and Juan Ramírez, along with the then-Chavista mayor of the San Francisco municipality in Zulia state, Omar Prieto, orchestrated a seizure at Bancoex to acquire funds from a Chinese fund allocated for constructing a waste incineration plant. They named this trust at Bancoex “Ciudad de Progreso Alpha I” (CIUPROCA), and by 2013, companies controlled by Roberto Añez and Juan Ramírez had received over 400 million dollars from this Chinese fund. However, all these funds were diverted to the personal accounts of Roberto Añez, Juan Ramírez, and David Brillembourg Capriles.
David Brillembourg Capriles, founder of the Brillembourg Capriles Group, established a connection with Mayor Omar Prieto that enabled them to defraud Venezuelans of over 400 million dollars. Roberto Añez, a financial operator and “bookkeeper” for Brillembourg, who was later investigated and fined by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Treasury, contacted Juan Ramírez, former treasurer of Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD) and the current owner and president of Nodus International Bank in Miami and Puerto Rico. He called him to assist in setting up the network of companies used in this scam. How did they reach Juan Ramírez? His sister, Bella Ramírez, is married to Ernesto Pineda, the brother-in-law of David Brillembourg.
Añez and Ramírez primarily utilized four companies to receive payments from Bancoex: Papillon and Sonderlan, controlled by Ramírez, and ABO International and Waste Pro Solutions, controlled by Añez. Añez used American banks like Wells Fargo Bank, while Ramírez operated through Portuguese banks such as Banco Espírito Santo. Investigations by the Department of Justice revealed that from these companies, they later transferred funds to Brillembourg’s financial group located in Saint Lucia: BrillaBank. From BrillaBank, an offshore bank, they managed to pay commissions to all public officials on the payroll, including Omar Prieto and José Luis Parada. The U.S. Department of Justice mistakenly concluded its investigation of Roberto Añez and his companies by convicting him of “unlicensed money transmitting” and tax evasion, fining him over three million dollars, when in reality Añez and Ramírez, in partnership with David Brillembourg Capriles, were engaged in money laundering and bribing public employees of Nicolás Maduro’s government.
In a 31-page lawsuit, IRS special agent Warren Rogers details how payments and transfers were made to and from Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, the Netherlands, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Switzerland, Spain, and Aruba. The funds were channeled through a network of companies, some with legitimate activities like a hotel and real estate construction firm in Miami, and others that seemingly functioned as shell companies, according to the lawsuit.
One of the seized accounts was in the name of International Services and Supplies Inc. (I.S. & S), operating from Añez’s residence on San Juan Drive, Coral Gables, Florida. The I.S. & S account received $9.2 million in deposits from companies such as ABO International and Waste Pro Solutions, which in turn had Añez as a signatory, suggesting that the businessman was both the sender and beneficiary of the transfers. Some outflows from the account were used to pay for imported cars, private jets for Añez and Brillembourg’s personal use, as well as equipment and real estate. However, investigators found no information to support that I.S. & S had any history or experience in those businesses. In other instances, bank transfers did not indicate the reason for the operations. Other transfers were used to pay for parts for the Cessna aircraft with registration N496RA, jewelry, artworks, and items from Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
Añez’s house in Coral Gables was under covert surveillance, allowing investigators to conclude that the activities claimed by the companies registered at that address were not actually taking place.
According to other federal investigations, some Venezuelan entrepreneurs have focused in recent years on a lucrative business of exchanging preferential dollar rates issued by the Venezuelan government in the United States. Juan Ramírez, the other partner of Añez and Brillembourg after the misappropriation of the Chinese fund, has specialized in this currency exchange business through his banking platform in the U.S., “Nodus International Bank.” In October 2022, Nodus International Bank, led by Juan Ramírez, was found guilty by OFAC for violating sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
Trust registration at BANCOEX
After the collapse of the Brilla Bank financial group in Dominica—where, led by his mother Adelaida (known as “Tanya”) Capriles de Brillembourg, they defrauded Venezuelan savers of over 30 million dollars—Brillembourg relied on the financial group of Julio Herrera Velutini in Puerto Rico, Bancredito International Bank, Banvelca CA, and Brittania Financial Group, which no longer exists, as Herrera Velutini is accused by U.S. authorities of paying bribes to the then-governor of the island, Wanda Vázquez, who has already been convicted. The trial against Herrera Velutini is ongoing while he remains under house arrest. Meanwhile, Juan Ramírez chose to separate from Brillembourg and Añez, forging his own path with the stolen funds from the trust and purchasing Nodus International Bank in partnership with Tomás Niembro Concha, who, while residing in the most expensive apartment in the luxurious Lagasca 99 in Madrid, is under investigation by OCIF in Puerto Rico for money laundering and facing dissolution proceedings.
Roberto Añez, along with his brother Jorge Añez and his son Aleczander Añez, have continued to launder money for Nicolás Maduro’s government. The Añez family owns the airline Avior and has utilized access to cryptocurrencies at preferential rates from Sunacrip in partnership with Joselit Ramírez, justifying their actions based on the airline’s needs. They have delegated to young Aleczander the responsibility of managing and coordinating all private flights and yacht charters for these corrupt Chavistas, many of whom are currently imprisoned, through MWC Charter & Concierge LLC and Miami Luxury Yacht Group Co.
The primary paymaster platform that Añez offered was in partnership with Jorge Dellan, a cousin of Leonardo González Dellan, former president of the Banco Industrial de Venezuela, who is sanctioned by OFAC. Thus, Añez and Dellan set up another network of corruption to launder and steal money from Venezuelans. After laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for entrepreneurs allied with Tareck El Aissami and Joselit Ramírez through DL Services BV, where Jorge Dellan was the manager, they are currently on the list of those investigated by Europol, along with their partner Roberto Añez.
Among the largest clients of Añez and Dellan in this new phase were Pedro Ferrer of Lloyd Sudamericano CA and Jesús Vergara Betancourt, a main contractor for the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana and Venalum. According to sources close to the case, Añez and Dellan are under investigation not only by Europol but also by the Southern District Attorney’s Office in Florida, where they will be prosecuted for money laundering and bribery, violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Transfer amounts from the trust at BANCOEX