London – TheInternational Consortium of Investigative Journalists published reports today under the slogan “Secrets for Sale: Inside the Global Maze of Extraterritorial Money.” I must say I appreciate these efforts to expose the billion-dollar industry behind the illegal movement of stolen public funds. This industry knows no territorial limits and faces no jurisdictional barriers whatsoever. Despite the anti-money laundering (AML) legislation prevalent in much of the developed world, the reality is that the “most reputable banks” globally have been, and continue to be, neck-deep in money laundering while eagerly circumventing laws to partake in this thriving business.
However, when it comes to Venezuela, very few investigations have been carried out by non-Venezuelan journalists. Perhaps it’s because the country seems irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but after over a trillion dollars in revenue over the last decade — which has allowed for billion-dollar scams — how come no one, apart from a handful of lone voices, appears interested in mapping the vast network of corruption unfolding?
To assist future inquiries, I’m publishing here some names and images that are sure to emerge in the extraterritorial investigations if organizations with good resources decide to focus their attention on that corner of the world.
UPDATE: After publishing this, the ICIJ released an article on the Ponzi scheme established by Francisco Illarramendi in the U.S. Nothing really new, as information about this case has been public knowledge for quite some time. In fact, it would be interesting to question the obvious conflict of interest of FTI Consulting (one-stop shop for all matters related to the reputation management of Boligarchs) with the trustee. What’s more intriguing is that the ICIJ mentions a big name in the article: Oswaldo Cisneros. The other Cisneros, Gustavo Cisneros, owns a black hole. It will be interesting to see if the ICIJ has what it takes to enter those rabbit holes…