Patrol vehicles belonging to Venezuela's Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and the National Anti-Corruption Police (PNCC) parked in front of a building. File photo.
Seven new arrests were made in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign of the Venezuelan government. The detainees, arrested for their involvement in the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot and for providing illegal construction licenses in the Baruta municipality, were presented before the courts on Thursday, April 13. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced the news of the arrests through a post on social media.
The seven detainees were presented before the 2nd Control Court, located in the headquarters of the National Anti-Corruption Police in Caracas.
#BALANCE… lucha #AntiCorrupción #HOY en horas de la madrugada serán #presentados ante el tribunal 2do de Control #siete (7) nuevos sujetos vinculados a las tramas de #PdvsaCripto… los que suman hasta ahora -junto a los demás detenidos por otros casos- la cifra de 58 detenidos.
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) April 14, 2023
The seven detainees are:
- Harold Rafael Sosa Padilla, director of Municipal Engineering of the Mayor’s Office of Baruta.
- Juan Carlos Posner Pimentel, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Baruta municipality.
- Álvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas, financial operator (linked to former deputy Hugbel Roa).
- Pedro Alejandro Herrera Araque, financial operator (brother-in-law of former deputy Hugbel Roa).
- Juan Manuel Almeida Morgado, technological operator in the PDVSA-Crypto plot.
- Jorge Luis Almeida Morgado, technological operator in the PDVSA-Crypto plot.
- Carlos Jesús Almeida Morgado, technological operator in the PDVSA-Crypto plot.
So far, 58 people have been detained for involvement in corruption, 161 raids have been carried out, and 18 arrest warrants have been requested, following investigations into the C”Whatever happens” anti-corruption operation.
In addition, the Attorney General’s Office has requested the courts for 53 arrest warrants and 99 searches nationwide in the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot.
2 officials of Baruta mayor’s office detained for providing illegal construction licenses
The National Anti-Corruption Police (PNCC) of Venezuela arrested two officials of the opposition-controlled Baruta Mayor’s Office for being allegedly responsible for illegal construction of luxury buildings in Las Mercedes sector of the municipality, which is part of Caracas.
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“An official of the Baruta Mayor’s Office was arrested for some construction permissions, because suddenly they allowed the construction of buildings above the permitted height,” the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello said during his televised show Con el Mazo Dando on Wednesday, April 12. “I have never been a alderman, but the alderpersons are the ones who are in charge of these regulations… and suddenly there were some buildings above a certain height, and they went on rising. In exchange for what?”
Cabello expressed hopes that the Venezuelan opposition would not start calling these arrests “political persecution” as they usually do when anyone from any opposition sector is arrested by Venezuelan law enforcement agencies.
The official referred to by Cabello is Harold Rafael Sosa Padilla, who is linked to the HP Construction company, directed by the brothers Rafael and Roger Perdomo, already arrested for corruption.
The other official of the municipality who has been detained is the general director of the mayor’s office, Juan Carlos Posner, also involved in providing permits for the illegal construction.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigon, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
