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The image above is worth way more than a thousand words. It is part of the public record now. Henceforth, whatever Francisco Convit does, anywhere on earth, will have to be appraised by the fact that the United States brought criminal charges against Convit. Criminal. Charges.
I take exception with Convit in particular. Convit has detailed knowledge of break into my flat, theft of laptops and threats to my family. He is a notorious member of the Derwick Associates gang. The gang adjective is apt: for besides Convit, partners Alejandro Betancourt (identified in conspiracy as CONSPIRATOR 2), Pedro Trebbau, and Francisco D'Agostino, while not explicitly named in indictment, are ear-deep in criminal activities. Every single thing they do / have done qualifies as criminal activity. Convit's indictment is just one exhibit, a drop, in an ocean of rampant international corruption.
The indictment gives details of a vast conspiracy perpetrated by the usual suspects. In short, it is a carbon copy of another scandal exposed here, which is at the core of yet another criminal investigation involving some of the same cast of characters (Oberto bros, Gorrin, Villalobos, Ramirez, de Beaumont, Meinl Bank, Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique, etc.). Sources report that Betancourt also had a hand on that.
Raul Gorrin (CONSPIRATOR 7), for instance, ought to be having headaches right now. His involvement in Convit's money laundering scheme is not, by any stretch, the only criminal transaction he's done (see here). It is just a matter of time for Gorrin to be named in even larger corruption schemes, soon to be made public.
Gazprombank gets a mention. Convit and Betancourt are partners of Gazprombank, in a shell called Gazprombank Latin America Ventures B.V. Sources in Switzerland revealed that Gazprombank was sanctioned in Switzerland because of its oversight in anti money laundering guidelines in deals with Convit and Betancourt in Venezuela.
Not only Swiss authorities are after Convit et al though:
"The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in this matter and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom and Italian, Spanish and Maltese law enforcement authorities provided assistance." (bold added)
To compound problems, Luis Carlos de Leon recently pleaded guilty in yet another, seemingly unrelated, corruption scheme. De Leon and Nervis Villalobos were instrumental in assigning no-bid multimillion dollar procurement contracts to Convit and Betancourt in a separate scheme. It is certain that de Leon and Villalobos will turn on Convit and Betancourt. As one of the indicted thugs claimed in a bugged conversation, everything they do is being looked on and investigated.
There's an interesting mention about kickbacks to U.S. law firms hired by PDVSA. Considering the latest regarding PDVSA US Litigation Trust, it doesn't seem a wild guess anymore to suggest that American lawyers are also involved in bribe payment / corruption to get sweet deals out of Venezuela.
