Former Venezuelan National Treasurer And Her Spouse Charged In Connection With International Bribery And Money Laundering Scheme

A former Venezuelan National Treasurer and her spouse were charged in a superseding indictment filed Tuesday for their alleged participation in a previously indicted billion-dollar currency exchange and money laundering scheme.  An alleged co-conspirator was previously charged in the original indictment.

Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen (Diaz), 47, and her spouse, Adrian Jose Velasquez Figueroa (Velasquez), 41, Venezuelan citizens who reside in Madrid, Spain, were charged in a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering. 

Raul Gorrin Belisario (Gorrin), 52, a Venezuelan billionaire businessman who owns Globovision news network, was charged by indictment in August 2018 and remains charged in the superseding indictment as a co-conspirator in the same money laundering conspiracy and money laundering counts.  He is currently a fugitive residing in Venezuela.  

The superseding indictment alleges that Gorrin paid millions of dollars in bribes to two former Venezuelan national treasurers, Alejandro Andrade Cedeno (Andrade) and Diaz, and to Velasquez, for the benefit of Diaz, to corruptly secure the rights to conduct foreign currency exchange transactions for the Venezuelan government at favorable rates.  Gorrin wired money to and for the benefit of Andrade and Diaz, including money for private jets, yachts, homes, champion horses, high-end watches, and a fashion line.   

Andrade, 56, a Venezuelan citizen, was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2018 for his role in the conspiracy to commit money laundering.  As part of his guilty plea, Andrade admitted that he received over $1 billion in bribes from co-conspirator Gorrin and other co-conspirators in exchange for using his position as Venezuelan national treasurer to select them to conduct currency exchange transactions at favorable rates for the Venezuelan government.