Two accused in the US of laundering 1.2 billion dollars from PDVSA

Up to 20 years in prison could be the sentence for two accused of laundering 1.2 billion dollars from the state oil companyPetroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), who face charges of "conspiracy to commit money laundering."

Ralph Steinmann, 48 years old, native of Switzerland, andLuis Fernando Vuteff, 51, from Argentina, are accused of alleged money laundering. According to the US Department of Justice, the funds managed by both financial asset managers would have been "obtained corruptly."

Court documents allege that from 2014 and until at least August 2018, the pair "conspired with others to launder proceeds through an illegal bribery scheme using the U.S. financial system," as well as multiple bank accounts located overseas.

The case file would include a criminal complaint against Steinmann and Vuteff, each charged with "one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering" through an international scheme to launder illicitly obtained funds, according toWHICH.

A statement from the US Department of Justice cited by the aforementioned agency indicates that the conspirators laundered illicit profits in connection with a corrupt foreign currency exchange scheme that involved the bribery of Venezuelan officials.

Steinmann, Vuteff and others reportedly agreed to create the "sophisticated financial mechanisms" and contacts necessary to launder more than $200 million related to the scheme. They would also be suspected of opening accounts for or on behalf of at least two Venezuelan public officials to receive their bribe payments.

If found guilty of laundering $1.2 billion, the defendants would face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. While Steinmann is a fugitive from US justice, Vuteff has already been arrested and is awaiting extradition from Switzerland to this country, where he will be tried by a court in South Florida.

PDVSA, a Venezuelan company once respected and considered highly profitable by international experts, was driven to ruin with the arrival of Chavismo to power. Sunken by the administration ofNicolas Maduro, corruption plots around the company date back to the times ofHugo Chavez.

In 2018, US authorities and the Spanish Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's OfficeThey joined together to track funds irregularly withdrawn from PDVSA and transferred to Spanish territory by senior officials of the regime.

The authorities of both countries declared that they were committed to identifying the members of “this alleged criminal organization” residing in Spain, who would be raising capital through a transnational company calledSwiss Invest.

The names of the Argentine Luis Fernando Vuteff, son-in-law of the former mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, and Ralph Steinmann were already heard in those investigations, associated with those ofJosé Vicente Amparan Croquer andHugo Ramalho Gois.

In those days, Chávez's former vice minister of Energy,Villalobos nerves, was arrested along with three other people in Madrid (including Vuteff)accused of money laundering through the purchase of 115 properties valued at 60 million euros and located in the tourist town of Marbella and in Madrid, which were blocked by the Spanish justice system.

The operations were carried out largely through the company Columbus Properties One, a developer of repossessed apartments, which was funded by capital managed by the company Swiss Invest, whose clients included former Venezuelan senior officials.