The question remains quite pertinent. Yesterday, Ian Talley in the Wall Street Journal published “Morgan Stanley and Interactive Brokers face federal scrutiny in Venezuela investigation.” The FBI and SEC investigation is essentially a deep dive into the agreements of Luis Mariano Rodríguez Cabello, a trusted lieutenant and favored representative of Diego Salazar, who is, in turn, a cousin of Rafael Ramírez. Thanks to Ramírez, Salazar became the main insurance provider for PDVSA and an intermediary in multimillion-dollar contracts between PDVSA and Chinese companies. Ramírez simply was not going to relinquish his stake in the bilateral agreements between Venezuela and China.
All of this has been meticulously documented and revealed in an ongoing investigation related to Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), the money laundering firm chosen by Salazar & co. It all began with a tip: a €99,980 gratuity that Salazar had sent to hotel staff in Paris, where he often went shopping. Paris is also relevant to Talley’s story: the law firm FTPA (Coralie Oger) and money man Jean-François de Clermont-Tonnerre were hired by Salazar for money laundering purposes. Salazar’s right-hand man (Rodríguez Cabello) was, of course, at the center of it all.
Talley identifies Mark Coffey as the whistleblower who alerted SEC authorities about Rodríguez Cabello’s money movements. Coffey “served as Chief Compliance Officer for Capital Guardian and Avenir,” according to Talley’s article, which described the flag-raising operations:
The funds of Venezuelans in BPA were frozen by the Andorran court, but $200 million were released, according to a Treasury intelligence report from November 2016, a copy of which was reviewed by the Journal. Shortly thereafter, Rodríguez and several of his associates transferred $107.5 million to their corporate account at Morgan Stanley, according to the intelligence report.
Morgan Stanley began to suspect that those funds, received in 15 wire transfers between October 2014 and November 2015, originated from the funds released from BPA, according to the report.
Morgan Stanley closed the account, and Rodríguez moved it in 2017, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Rodríguez placed the account with Capital Guardian Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm partially owned by a French businessman and long-time associate of Mr. Rodríguez, Jean François de Clermont-Tonnerre, according to some individuals and financial and corporate records.
In the release of those $200 million mentioned, the disbarred attorney Baltasar Garzón -hired by Salazar- played a role. Dominic de Villepin was also hired for this purpose by Salazar.
The FBI launched an investigation into Rodríguez Cabello in 2013. The investigation “was closed in 2015 because the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute.” Now, presumably spurred by Coffey’s new revelations and at the SEC’s request, the FBI is set to investigate Rodríguez Cabello again. Are they really?
Ramírez is the primary culprit not only in this case but in almost all criminal cases related to Venezuela currently pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice. In light of the mount of evidence regarding Ramírez’s corruption network that has emerged in various jurisdictions, all of which are in possession of the Department of Justice, it tests the credibility of why he remains uncharged.
Otherwise, life looks rosy for Ramírez. In Andorra, the Cierco brothers (money launderers behind BPA) are indefinitely obstructing the Prosecutor’s investigation. Being possibly the richest family in Andorra helps. A Madrid court, where BPA faced a severe blow through a subsidiary (Banco Madrid) involved in the money laundering operation, recently ruled that there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Spanish authorities must have overlooked all those real estate acquisitions by Venezuelan criminals and fugitives funded by BPA. In Rome, where Ramírez resides, a court recently rejected his extradition to Venezuela, according to his Italian lawyer. Requests for comments sent to Italian police authorities about whether money laundering is a criminal offense in that jurisdiction remain unanswered. Those agreements Ramírez signed with ENI are certainly yielding dividends. In Portugal, where Ramírez is at the center of the Banco Espirito Santo investigation, authorities have yet to name or charge him.
And in the U.S.? Well, perhaps nothing less than Abbe Lowell (attorney for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner) might shed some light. Lowell, and a deal under false pretenses somewhere, is perhaps the only plausible explanation left for why Ramírez remains free.