Former Venezuelan National Treasurer and Her Husband Sentenced in Money Laundering and International Bribery Scheme

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Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Former Venezuelan National Treasurer and Her Husband Sentenced in Money Laundering and International Bribery Scheme

The former National Treasurer of Venezuela and her husband were each sentenced today to 15 years in prison for their roles in a multibillion-dollar bribery and money laundering scheme.

According to court documents, Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillen, 49, and her husband, Adrian José Velásquez, 43, accepted and laundered over $136 million in bribes from co-conspirator Raúl Gorrin Belisario, a Venezuelan billionaire businessman who owned Globovision news network. Gorrin allegedly paid bribes to Díaz, including through Velásquez, to obtain access to purchase bonds from the Venezuela National Treasury at a favorable exchange rate, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of profit. The conspiracy involved bulk cash hidden in cardboard boxes, offshore shell companies, Swiss bank accounts, and international wire transfers allegedly sent by Gorrin for Díaz and Velásquez’s benefit, including to purchase multiple private jets and yachts, and to fund a high-end fashion line started by Díaz and Velásquez in South Florida.

“As a result of the Department of Justice’s relentless efforts, the defendants will serve lengthy prison terms for their roles in a massive bribery and money laundering scheme in which Díaz abused her role as the Venezuelan National Treasurer,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As this prosecution demonstrates, the Criminal Division never wavers in its determination to hold accountable corrupt officials who subvert the rule of law and use our financial system to launder money related to their illicit schemes.”

“The sentences imposed against former Venezuelan National Treasurer Díaz and her husband send a clear message:  The United States will not tolerate its financial systems being used as personal money laundering tools by corrupt foreign officials,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida.

“The significant sentencings and judgments imposed today against Díaz and Velásquez Figueroa demonstrate that individuals who use their positions of trust to launder illicitly obtained funds through the U.S. financial systems will be held accountable,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Buckley of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami Field Office. “HSI Miami’s El Dorado Task Force South will continue to work with our global partners to pursue those individuals and organizations who are involved in these multibillion-dollar conspiracies and money laundering schemes.”

Díaz and Velásquez were each convicted after trial in December 2022 of money laundering offenses.  Gorrin was first charged by indictment in August 2018 and remains charged in the superseding indictment as a co-conspirator in the same money laundering scheme. He is currently a fugitive residing in Venezuela.

HSI Miami, FBI Miami, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in this matter. The department appreciates the significant cooperation provided by authorities in Spain and Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice.

Trial Attorneys Paul Hayden and Michael Culhane Harper of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kurt Lunkenheimer and Joshua Paster for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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