In the past weeks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in USA has seized $250 million from Alejandro Andrade, former Venezuelan national treasurer who is in jail in that country with a ten-year sentence for money laundering, according to a local newspaper.
Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) informed to The New Herald that they’re collaborating with Federal Prosecutor to clarify a bribes and dollar manipulation system in Venezuela that stole billions of dollars from public resources from that nation. “We anticipate more charges” said the head from that office in Miami, Anthony Salisbury.
Andrade, who were Hugo Chávez’s bodyguard and National Treasurer for the period 2007-2010, has lived in the United States for the past ten years. In that country pleaded guilty under seal to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was 10 years sentenced on November 2018 and made an agreement to start that sentence in February 2019.
As part of his plea agreement, Andrade agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $1 billion and forfeiture of all assets involved in the corrupt scheme, including real state, vehicles, horses, watches, aircraft and bank accounts.
According to The New Herald, this $250 million seized are part for the plea agreement.
In his confession to USA justice, Andrade admitted that he received over $1 billion from co conspirator Raul Gorrin, ex owner from Globovision a TV channel in Venezuela and who is now a justice fugitive and other coconspirators in exchange for using his position as national treasurer to select them to conduct currency exchange transactions at favorable rates for the Venezuela Government. Andrade received cash as well as private jets, yachts, cars, homes, champion horses and others.
The Venezuela Supreme Court ask to USA the extradition from Andrade for his presumed felony in the appropriation from pubic money and capitals legitimizing.
According to EFE in 2018, sources from the Comptroller’s Commission of Venezuelan Parliament, the embezzlement that Venezuela suffered from 2003 due to exchange control, exceeded $400.000 million.
