MIAMI (AP) — A Venezuelan media tycoon-turned-fugitive was charged Wednesday in federal court in South Florida for what authorities say was his role in laundering money in a conspiracy to siphon more than $1 billion from the oil company owned by the South American country’s government.
A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment charging Raul Gorrin Belisario in an alleged scheme to launder funds he obtained from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A, also known as PDVSA, in exchange of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribery payments to Venezuelan officials, the U.S. Justice Department said in a press release.
Gorrin, 56, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. He was previously charged in two other federal cases and is already considered a fugitive by the U.S.
Gorrin did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment.
“Gorrin’s alleged conduct enriched corrupt government officials and exploited the U.S. financial system to facilitate these crimes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant General Nicole Argentieri. “The United States is not a safe haven for carrying out money laundering schemes or hiding criminal proceeds.”
Gorrin is among an elite group known in Venezuela as “boliburgueses,” people who amassed huge fortunes during the late President Hugo Chavez ’s government. Their wealth has since drawn scrutiny from U.S. prosecutors, who have tied many to shady real estate deals, yacht purchases and other transactions meant to hide their fortunes.
Gorrin helped purchase Venezuela’s popular television network Globovision in 2013 and softened its anti-government coverage.
Between 2014 and 2018, Gorrin conspired with others to launder proceeds from the bribery scheme using the U.S. financial system as well as bank accounts in other countries, according to court documents.
The documents state that 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.
The laundering of illicit proceeds were directed in part to South Florida, where they were used to buy real estate as well as yachts and other luxury items. Gorrin and his co-conspirators used shell companies and offshore bank accounts to conceal the movement of the bribe payments and illicit funds, according to the documents.
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