English
Español
So the Department of Justice (DoJ) charged Raul Gorrin last night with money laundering. Readers of this site sort of knew that was coming. Alejandro Andrade, Claudia Diaz Guillen and Adrian Velazquez (both pending extradition to Venezuela from Spain), are co-conspirators, along Gabriel Arturo Jimenez Aray from Banco Peravia in the DR. Given the amount of nonsense being published about Venezuela's corruption these days, by so called experts that don't get the half of it, it is important to reiterate that Gorrin's corrupt schemes did not end with Andrade: as of today, Gorrin is the most powerful boligarch in Venezuela, bar none.
Maikel Moreno, Venezuela's Supreme Court Chief, is under Gorrin's thumb. Moreno's recent private-jet trip to Turkey, cost just under $400,000 and was paid -according to sources- by Gustavo Perdomo, Gorrin's brother in law and associate. Gorrin formed a legal protection racket many years ago, assisted by Luisa Ortega's husband. Gorrin gets Moreno to do all kinds of things for his "clients", but the core of the "business" is to extort millions of dollars to boligarchs with pending issues with Venezuelan "justice". Gorrin got Moreno to throw out -with a Supreme Court judicial review- graft probe against Nervis Villalobos and Javier Alvarado. Gorrin has done the same for the Derwick thugs: Francisco Convit, Pedro Trebbau and Alejandro Betancourt.
Gorrin is conspirator no. 7 in Francisco Convit's & Matthias Krull $1.2 billion money laundering scheme at PDVSA. Little wonder then that fugitive Convit and Betancourt (conspirator no. 2) live splendidly in Venezuela, totally unencumbered by trouble with America's DoJ. With Cilia Flores and Nicolas Maduro's support, Gorrin got Moreno to grant the PETROSUR concession to Alejandro Betancourt and his Spanish proxies. Gorrin retains a stake in that Joint Venture between Corporación Venezolana de Petróleo and Inversiones Petroleras Iberoamericanas Ltd. Gorrin's Globovisión and Betancourt's sunglasses company Hawkers retained Brian Ballard's lobbying firm. While some "experts" claim that Gorrin is some kind of liaison agent, brokering a deal between the Maduro and Trump administrations, DoJ would beg to differ.
Gorrin has become one of Cilia's most trusted lieutenants. Cilia Flores remains, arguably, the most powerful individual in Venezuela. That gives Gorrin unparalleled access to all levels of power in Venezuela. Sources report that Gorrin sits in PDVSA board meetings where potential energy and financial deals are discussed.
Gorrin used to be a partner of Luis Oberto in money laundering schemes involving Rafael Ramirez, Nervis Villalobos, and Alejandro Betancourt. Gorrin's association with Juan Domingo Cordero, and the latter's ventures with German Rivero Zerpa (Wilmer Ruperti's personal banker), will potentially bring in more legal headaches. A money laundering probe involving Charles Henry de Beaumont, Joseph Benhamou and Danilo Diazgranados, hinted at by Prosecutor Michael Nadler, is likely to make Gorrin reappear as a co-conspirator.
While DoJ's latest impetus in combatting Venezuelan corruption is to be commended, it remains a mistery why would some Boligarchs be declared as fugitives (Convit, Villalobos, Alvarado, Isturiz) but fail to issue red alerts / notify INTERPOL. By way of example, sources in Spain report that OFAC-designated kingpin Samark Lopez Bello visits that country (last trip with Carlos Aguilera and Mauricio Rivero Rivera) and no arrests are made. Same situation applies to Alejandro Betancourt and Orlando Alvarado. Same situation applies to Danilo Diazgranados and partner Armando "Pelon" Capriles.
