Several ex-presidents and executives of the company deposited 2,000 million euros in the Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA).
The investigations indicate that the illicit money circulated for at least 37 bank accounts (Photomontage PanAm Post) The Justice of Andorra investigates 35 exalted officials of the Venezuelan state PDVSA, for embezzling the oil company in more than 2,000 million euros. The Andorran judge Canòlic Mingorance requested the organization chart of the company to the Venezuelan authorities to try to decipher the millionaire collection in illegal commissions on the part of officials and businessmen of the chavismo between the years 2007 and 2012.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, the judge seeks to know exactly the charges of these 35 officials, their responsibilities and powers in relation to PDVSA. "The investigated taking advantage of their influence in the circles of power, organized a system of commissions in relation to the public contracts of the company PDVSA that meant that the companies that agreed to the bids were forced to contract with their framework to get the adjudications, charging millions of euros for those involved for advice, often verbal, in return for their efforts where payment was essential to access the public markets of PDVSA and its subsidiaries, "said Mingorance.
And it is that the investigations in the European country reveal that several ex-presidents and executives of the company deposited 2,000 million euros in the Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA). The inquiries indicate that the illicit money circulated for at least 37 bank accounts in the name of Panamanian companies and "jumped" from Andorra to other tax havens like Switzerland or Belize. At the beginning of February 2018 it was known that three executives of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA moved USD $ 60 million in Andorra.
The Venezuelans Luis Carlos de León, former director of Finance of Electricity of Caracas; Eudomario Carruyo, head of the subsidiary of PDVSA Deltaven, and Francisco Jiménez, channeled their funds between 2008 and 2014 through accounts in Andorra. Along with them, the BPA also received funds from other executives of PDVSA, such as the ex-delegate in Spain and Portugal Julia van Den Brule and the former supervisor of the oil company in Caracas Íngrid Sánchez González. It was also learned that the current Carabobo state governor, Rafael Lacava, had hidden illicit funds in Switzerland and Andorra. Likewise, former ministers, front men and officials of the Hugo Chávez government in Venezuela benefited from more than 2,000 million euros in illegal commissions; money that apparently was deposited in the BPA. Among those involved are also the ex-Vice Ministers of Energy of Venezuela Javier Alvarado and Nervis Villalobos; also Diego Salazar Carreño, cousin of Rafael Ramírez, former president of PDVSA, and other executives of the Venezuelan oil industry. It should be noted that the report issued by the FinCen (Anti-Blanking Unit of the United States) in 2015 reported that the D'Andorra Private Bank facilitated transfers amounting to USD $ 4.2 billion related to money laundering in Venezuela, with several methods to move funds, including contracts false, mischaracterized loans, over and under invoicing and other schemes. The document establishes that the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela is immersed in criminal activities after laundering close to USD $ 2,000 million through the BPA. PDVSA's money laundering network operated through shell companies with the collaboration of a top BPA executive, who was paid "exorbitant" commissions to process operations with money "derived from corruption," FinCen said.
Those involved so far Nervis Villalobos: Vice Minister of Energy and Petroleum in Venezuela. Arrested in Madrid after participating in an important plan of bribes related to PDVSA. The investigations reveal that he made 12 deposits in the BPA and constituted 11 instrumental companies. Their accounts would have received 124.2 million euros. Javier Alvarado Ochoa: exviceministro of Electrical Development, also was president of the extinct company Electricity of Caracas. According to the investigations, it managed five deposits and four companies that received 46.5 million euros. In addition to the investigations for money laundering in the BPA, Alvarado was imputed in Spain for having received bribes from the Spanish company Duro Felguera.