A Venezuelan television news network owner has been charged by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida for his role in a $1.2 billion scheme to launder funds.
The indictment was unsealed after evidence was presented in the Florida courthouse showing that the laundered funds were allegedly corruptly obtained from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).
Gorrin to “clean” money for hundreds of millions
It was later presented that the defendant, Raul Gorrin Belisario (Gorrin), would “clean” these ill-gotten gains in exchange for hundreds of millions in bribe payments to Venezuelan officials. Gorrin was not present at the indictment; he remains at large and is being pursued by several federal offices on separate matters.
“This action by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working against global illegal activities with our international and domestic partners, significantly upholds the rule of law,” said Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of HSI.
According to the indictment, Gorrin has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
This charge stems from his alleged activity between 2014 and 2018. Gorrin was the mastermind of a money laundering outfit that used the United States financial system and several international accounts.
HSI Miami’s El Dorado Task Force is investigating the Gorrin case with support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and authorities in the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, and Malta assisted in the hunt.
Gorrin and co-conspirators paid millions in bribes
According to the report, Gorrin and his co-conspirators “paid millions of dollars in bribes to high-level Venezuelan officials to obtain foreign currency exchange loan contracts with PDVSA. Gorrin and his co-conspirators subsequently directed the laundering of the illicit proceeds, in part, in the Southern District of Florida, where they purchased real estate, yachts, and other luxury items.”
“According to the indictment, Gorrin and his co-conspirators paid millions of dollars in bribes to high-ranking foreign officials to secure over $1 billion in ill-gotten gains, which Gorrin and his co-conspirators used to purchase yachts and other luxury items in the United States,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Gorrin’s alleged conduct enriched corrupt government officials and exploited the U.S. financial system to facilitate these crimes.
Image: BD Morgan – Pixlr.
