On June 22, the Council of Ministers approved the extradition to the United States of Rafael Ernesto Reiter, former Director of Security and Prevention of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, who was wanted by the United States for prosecution for his alleged involvement in crimes of money laundering, international corruption and criminal organization.
Previously, last January, the Council of Ministers had also approved the extradition to the United States of César David Rincón, former manager of a PDVSA subsidiary.
These former PDVSA executives, together with the former Venezuelan Vice Minister of Energy, Nervis Gerardo Villalobos and the former Director of Finance of Electricidad de Caracas, Luis Carlos León, had been arrested in October 2017 by the Civil Guard, as they were subject to an International Arrest Warrant issued by a Texas Court and processed through the U.S. Department of Justice.
After their arrest, the aforementioned persons were handed over to the Central Court of Instruction No. 2 of the Audiencia Nacional, which has been in charge of the extradition proceedings processed so far.
The aforementioned Venezuelan high-ranking officials and former executives, all of them supporters of the former Chavista regime, allegedly formed part of an organized network that allegedly collected millions of dollars in illegal commissions and bribes in exchange for awarding contracts and committing irregularities in tenders.
These illegal commissions and bribes were allegedly paid between 2007 and 2012 through Banca Privada d’Andorra, to current accounts opened in the name of Panamanian companies, with the funds subsequently being transferred to accounts in Switzerland and Belize.
Investigations in the United States also indicate that the money illicitly obtained by this organized network was laundered through a series of complex financial transactions that in some cases involved the purchase of real estate in the United States.
On the other hand, in relation to money laundering of funds from PDVSA, a criminal proceeding is also currently underway in Spain against José Roberto Rincón Bravo (son of Venezuelan businessman Roberto Enrique Rincón Fernández, who was indicted in the United States), for the alleged laundering of several million euros from the Venezuelan state oil company through the purchase of different properties in Spain.
This proceeding is currently being investigated by the 27th Court of Instruction of Madrid -which ordered the arrest of Mr. Rincón Bravo and decreed his provisional imprisonment last June 6, 2018 upon appreciating risk of flight- and that has ordered the search of several properties acquired by the investigated in Spain. The transfer of funds from third countries (USA, among others) to Spanish accounts is also being investigated for possible money laundering.
