Venezuelan Public Ministry headquarters in Caracas. Photo: File photo.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported that the Public Ministry appointed prosecutors 50, 67, 69, 85 and 94 to investigate the “serious acts of corruption” recently unveiled. The National Anti-Corruption Police has arrested several mayors, directors of institutions, judges and deputies.
The attorney general released the information on Sunday, March 19, through a statement published on social media, where he affirmed “the commitment to justice and truth.”
#COMUNICADO… El @MinpublicoVEN informa la designación de los #Fiscales 50, 67, 69, 85 y 94 para #investigar los graves hechos de #Corrupcion que vinculan a funcionarios públicos en repudiables tramas delictivas: Ratificamos así nuestro #compromiso con la #Justicia y la #Verdad. pic.twitter.com/IIukuohT5V
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) March 19, 2023
According to the Venezuelan news outlet Últimas Noticias, those arrested so far are:
Venezuela’s National Anti-Corruption Police Detains 4 High-Level Officials, More Arrests Expected
• Joselit Ramírez, president of the National Superintendence of Cryptoactives (Sunacrip), allegedly involved in the disappearance of $3 billion. As reported by Últimas Noticias after interviewing an oil consultant, the money was being sent to Venezuela as payment for the sale of oil, using cryptocurrencies managed by Sunacrip to evade the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States. Ramírez was removed from Sunacrip by President Nicolás Maduro, as stated in decree number 4,788, published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette 6,739, on Friday, March 17. The restructuring of the organization, chaired by Anabel Pereira Fernández, was decreed.
• Hugbel Roa, deputy in the National Assembly for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). On Sunday, journalist Eligio Rojas from Últimas Noticias reported that Roa was allegedly involved in “acts of corruption in the oil industry.” According to sources in the judicial system, the Trujillo parliamentarian and former minister of higher education is being investigated for acts of corruption that occurred in Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Roa is associated with PDVSA joint ventures, specifically Petrocedeño, a venture between the Venezuelan state and shareholders from France and Norway. “To speak with the president of Petrocedeño, you had to go through Hugbel,” said a source linked to the industry.
• Pedro Hernández, mayor of the Santos Michelena municipality (Las Tejerías), Aragua state. He is being investigated for his alleged links with a criminal organization founded by Carlos Enrique “El Conejo” Gómez Rodríguez, whose main base of operations was the town of Las Tejerías.
• Judges Cristóbal Cornieles, president of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of Caracas, and José Maximino Márquez García, fourth anti-terrorist judge, were allegedly involved in the January 9 release of Oswaldo José Cheremos Carrasquel, accused of supplying weapons of war to the organization criminal Tren del Llano.
• Jorwis Bracho Gómez, 41, Falcón state’s first control judge, was reportedly another of those arrested, according to the investigative journalistic blog La Tabla.
Below is the full unofficial translation of the statement by the Attorney General:
The Public Ministry informs the country that, due to having been notified by the National Anti-Corruption Police of the arrest of a group of public officials allegedly involved in serious acts of corruption, it has initiated the pertinent proceedings for the purposes of their prosecution.
To direct the investigation of these findings, national prosecutors 50, 67, 69, 85 and 94 have been designated with competence in matters of corruption, organized crime, human rights and full competence.
The illegal acts investigated correspond to different branches and levels of the Public Power and involve strategic sectors for national development and the administration of justice.
In this sense, the Public Ministry reiterates its commitment to fight corruption and seek justice in order to protect the nation’s interests against unscrupulous practices and officials that damage the institutional framework and betray the country’s trust.
Caracas, March 19, 2023
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National Anti-Corruption Police
On Friday, March 17, Venezuelan Minister of Communication Freddy Ñáñez published a statement from the National Anti-Corruption Police on social media. The statement announced that “it has initiated, before the Public Ministry, a request for judicial prosecution of a series of individuals” who “could be involved in serious acts of administrative corruption and embezzlement.” They indicated that these actions are “the result of an in-depth investigation, carried out for months, that points to citizens who exercised functions in the judiciary, the oil industry and some municipalities of the country.” The statement does detail the number of people named or their identities.
“We have the express instruction that this investigation be carried to the ultimate consequences, and we will not stop in our sacred duty to confront the scourge of corruption and punish in an exemplary manner those who commit these criminal acts, whoever they are and whoever falls,” concludes the statement.
“Whoever falls”
At a press conference on Monday, Vice President of the PSUV Diosdado Cabello stated the party’s full support for the government and the National Anti-Corruption Police in the investigations against corruption.
"No le tapamos ningún acto delictivo a nadie, absolutamente a nadie. En la Revolución no tienen espacios los corruptos, eso no es de revolucionarios", Diosdado Cabello. @dcabellor #JuntosContraLasMafias pic.twitter.com/uzLsbZNrfn
— PSUV (@PartidoPSUV) March 20, 2023
“The PSUV is at the forefront of the fight against the scourge of corruption… Never before in Venezuela has corruption been condemned as in the government of Commander Chávez and President Nicolás Maduro,” said Cabello.
He added that they will confront the corrupt “no matter who falls,” as they will not cover up “any criminal act of anyone, absolutely no one.”
(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
