Russian Pranksters Posing as Swiss President Call Guaido, Talk Freezing Maduroâs “Crime Monies” (Video)
The self-proclaimed âinterim presidentâ of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, has fallen victim to a famous Russian prankster duo, discussing freezing Maduro’s Swiss bank accounts and even sending them an âofficial requestâ to do so.
https://youtu.be/B1GOT2bVNYg
The comedic duo of two Russian pranksters â Vladimir âVovanâ Kuznetsov and Alexei âLexusâ Stolyarov â notorious for their high-profile pranks of politicians world-wide, released an audio, which purportedly captured their âtalksâ with Guaido on Thursday.
The prank victim apparently found the pranksters after the duo called the US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, impersonating the President of Switzerland, and the chief of the nation’s Department of Finance, Ueli Maurer.
Shortly after the call, they were contacted by an âambassador of the new Venezuelan government,â Carlos Vecchio, who then arranged talks with the âinterim presidentâ himself. According to the pranksters, Guaido insisted on holding the âtalksâ only through Skype or WhatsApp for fear of wiretapping.
On February 20, âMaurerâ and Guaido talked about the âcrime moniesâ of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, supposedly held in Swiss banks. The âSwiss presidentâ promised to freeze the accounts, claiming that of late the banks observed transfers from them to Russian and Chinese banks.
The pranksters reassured Guaido that he would be able to âmanageâ the frozen Venezuelan government accounts âas head of state.â âExcellent,â Guaido replied. Apart from that, the duo talked about another way, suggesting to simply create a personal account for Guaido and transferring Venezuelan state funds there.
To take action, the âSwiss presidentâ asked Guaido to send an âofficialâ request, sending him a draft of it. The draft included a list of Swiss banks, where the âcrime moniesâ are supposedly held â and cheekily included âLexus Vovanial Bank Ltd.â â a fictitious bank, based on the duo’s nicknames.
While the prank was already a success, Guaido himself apparently added more hilarity to it, bragging to the press about getting in touch with the âSwiss presidentâ and stating that he was âdoing everything possible to protect these assets that belong to the republic.â Switzerland, however, swiftly rebuked Guaido’s claims, stating â obviously â that âthere was no telephone contact between Mr. Guaido and President Maurer.â
The official statement by the real Swiss government, however, did not stop the prankster duo, who then again contacted Abrams and âAmbassadorâ Vecchio, complaining about Guaido not being able to keep the âtalksâ private.
Surprisingly, the veteran meddler Abrams took the bait, replying to their email.
âYes â that was an error on his part. We will of course keep everything confidential,â a screengrab, purportedly showing a reply from Abrams to âMaurerâ reads. The US Special Representative for Venezuela promised to tell Guaido âgentlyâ that openly speaking to the press about such sensitive matters âshould not be repeated.â
A similar response was provided by Vecchio, who reassured the âSwiss presidentâ that they âalready took actionâ and such a blunder âwill not happen again.â
As the fallout of Guaido’s talkativeness was contained, the duo received English and Spanish versions of the âofficial documentâ from the âinterim presidentâ â Lexus Vovanial Bank Ltd. included â screenshots provided.
