One hundred dollar note on fire. Photo: chinausfocus.com.
Venezuelan law enforcement agencies have arrested 25 people for their alleged involvement in the black market dollar mafias operating in the country in violation of the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).
On Wednesday, May 28, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported that 20 people had been arrested as of that day. He explained that these arrests are part of the investigation being conducted by state security agencies to identify the organizations instigating the economic war in Venezuela through the “parallel” or black market dollar.
These individuals were in charge of 18 websites and social media accounts where they set the dollar price daily without authorization from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), something that creates distortions in the Venezuelan economy. In addition to this parallel exchange rate, some of these entities operated as financial institutions that collected money from the public without authorization from the Superintendency of Banking Institutions (SUDEBAN).
Investigations show that the markers that these entities use to arbitrarily set the dollar price have no economic basis. “They are fraudulent indicators; they do not exist. These entities invent them,” Venezuelan authorities explained.
The Conspiracy Plot of Monitor DĂłlar and Black Market Dollar Markers in Venezuela
The 25 individuals (10 women and 15 men) were arrested by Bolivarian National Police (PNB) officers in nine states: Caracas, Aragua, MĂ©rida, Lara, Yaracuy, Miranda, Zulia, La Guaira, and Barinas. These individuals acted as operators, managers, liquidity providers, developers, programmers, and payment recipients in the aforementioned institutions. During the raids, batches of checks were seized that had been issued by Google to website owners for advertising the parallel dollar.
The authorities presume that the administrators of those 18 entities also have connections with the far right, as reflected the week before the May 25 elections when they increased the parallel dollar rate by 20%.
Furthermore, funds for various acts of politically motivated violence was distributed through AirTM, one of the 18 platforms promoting the black market dollar. In fact, last Wednesday, Minister Cabello showed evidence of a transfer of $9,531.97 made to far-right operator Juan Pablo Guanipa, who is currently detained. Cabello stated that part of the funds came from drug trafficking and the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
