Will Rafael Ramirez escape Banca Privada D'Andorra's money laundering evidence?

Got a phone call the other day from Ricard Poy, a very good source in all things Andorra, to tell me that his book, "Las Siete Plagas de BPA", was published. This is great news, as I have known the fierce opposition there's been for Ricard's book, not least from constraints imposed by his former employer (Diari d'Andorra), and from the Cierco brothers (money launderers that owned Banca Privada d'Andorra - BPA). The book, which I find tremendously enjoying, is a chronicle based on the criminal probe about the money laundering scheme set up by the Ciercos at BPA, to service Diego Salazar, Nervis Villalobos, Javier Alvarado, Eudomario Carruyo, Carmelo Urdaneta Aqui, Rocio Maneiro, et al in looting PDVSA out of billions with the ever ready approval and assistance of Rafael Ramirez.

The trouble for Ramirez is that the book, and criminal case file that underpins it, are now in the public domain. This site will make sure that it is seen far and wide and gets the attention needed, above all by those who are already conducting criminal probes into PDVSA's multi billion dollar money laundering schemes in different jurisdictions.

If that were the only case of Ramirez's malfeasance, perhaps he would get out if it scot-free. But Ramirez is far too deep. Having been both Minister of Energy and PDVSA's CEO for over a decade makes his preposterous innocence cries impossible to sustain, and BPA proves it. Andorra's case has another peculiarity: the corrupt deals that were part of the Venezuela - China bilateral agreement ($20+ billion) were structured by Diego Salazar (Ramirez's first cousin), and went through BPA. Plenty of unseen evidence, such as contracts whereby Chinese cos undertake to pay Salazar's shells 10% commission of contract amount purely for getting his cousin Rafael to approve them, will now become part of Ramirez's CV. Salazar got hundreds of millions, and part of that went to the man green lighting everything: Rafael Ramirez.

Ramirez is also the core of criminal probes related to Banco Espirito Santo, the $4.5 billion laundered through EFG and Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique, Odebrecht in Venezuela, Derwick Associates, Helsinge... We are persistently told he cut some kind of deal with American Justice, but his golden days "hiding" in Rome could soon come to an end.

Rudy Giuliani: Russian Tool

There's this endless debate about Russian interference in U.S. affairs. To one side of the aisle, Trump only got to the White House thanks to meddling of Putin's operatives, while the other is ever so quick to dismiss conflict of interests of too-close-to-Trump folk. Case in point: Trump's very own lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Jon Sale, one of the stable of "prominent" attorneys retained by Venezuelan thug / London-resident Alejandro Betancourt, made intros so that Giuliani would visit Betancourt in El Alamin hunting pile near Madrid. Point to discuss: Betancourt's direct involvement in, at least, two multi billion dollar probes by the Justice Department (DoJ) that have already placed in wanted status Francisco Convit and Raul Gorrin, two of Betancourt's criminal associates.

Giuliani's brief was to lobby the DoJ to obtain a get-out-of-jail card for Betancourt, over whose head a sealed indictment hangs. The argument: since financial support is given to "interim President" Juan Guaidó by Betancourt, he should be spared, as his and Trump's policy vis-a-vis regime change in Venezuela are aligned.

One must wonder how much of Betancourt's own connection to Russian interests Giuliani knows. One must wonder what understanding do Sale and Giuliani have of KYC and vetting clients.

On 23 February this year, a desperate email was sent by Orlando Alvarado (Betancourt's CFO) to PDVSA and Nynas top management. In it, Alvarado berated recipients about the fact that Nynas was "playing with fire", owing to a crude cargo that had been returned due to higher-than-acceptable water content: "if national or international press finds that Nynas, a subsidiary of PDVSA, returned a cargo, it could cause irreparable damage to both companies and sadly to Zamora"*, claimed Alvarado.

Alvarado was acting here as officer of *Petrozamora, in short, a JV formed by PDVSA and Gazprombank Latin America Ventures, in turn a Dutch shell controlled by Betancourt and "former" Gazprom executives Boris Ivanov and Sergei Tagashov. Both Ivanov and Tagashov spent time as "diplomats" in Washington in the past. Alvarado thought appropriate to CC a lot of people in his email, which led to the leak.

But it is another individual, whose association to Petrozamora was revealed by Alvarado's email, what makes Giuliani's work for Betancourt nothing more than that of a Russian tool: Vladimir Anisimov.

Vladimir Gavrilovich Anisimov

Vladimir Gavrilovich Anisimov (DoB 27/9/1955, passport 4504339601, pictured May 2017) was one of the acting FSB heads that "roled" after the Beslan school massacre. He was deputy head of FSB's internal affairs and one of Nikolay Patrushev's key people. Anisimov was "dismissed" from his FSB post, and moved to "active reserve". He then emerged as head of security for Igor Kesaev, and has a number of board position, including one in High Precision Systems's subsidiary Degtyaryov.

A Google translate of a profile page, suggest Anisimov served in USSR's army between 1973 - 1977, had involvement in state security in Karelia Republic between 1977 - 1996 (under Patrushev). Since 1996 Anisimov has had different roles within FSB's central command (anti terrorism, protection of state secrets, internal affairs and investigations). Anisimov was appointed FSB Deputy Director in 2002.

Given the background, Anisimov's involvement in Petrozamora can only have one plausible explaination: an extra set of Putin's eyes in the operation. Consider his past with Patrushev (sanctioned by EU and U.S.), and the latter's current official role in Russia's Security Council. Consider the murkiness of all the characters involved. Flight records from Air France indicate that on 25th March Anisimov landed in Maracaibo, and was picked up at the airport by Venezuelan intelligence operatives.

Betancourt, then, is nothing but a Russian tool. As every associate of his, involved in gargantuan corruption. In fact, in the conspirators' list of names involved in Operation Money Flight first posted here in October 2018, number 1 is Alvaro Ledo, a PDVSA official and a member of Petrozamora's first board. Betancourt is number 2, Alvarado number 4... PDVSA does not seem to have the slightest bit of a concern, on having an associate copy Russia's FSB into its confidential affairs. Ditto Nynas.

Betancourt is in bed with all the corrupt officials of PDVSA, all the way to the very top. Betancourt got Rafael Ramirez to approve a separate money laundering scheme, worth $4.5 billion. The fact that his foray into oil has Anisimov, Ivanov and Tagashov as partners / associates, only confirms the kind of energy business he runs.

But what of his counsel? What of Jon Sale and Rudy Giuliani? If an independent investigative blogger working on his own can get this information, how could Giuliani possibly justify his work for someone like Betancourt? I'd venture a guess: Giuliani knew exactly what he was getting into with Betancourt. Giuliani must have known about Betancourt's associations with Russian intelligence. That makes Giuliani, pretty much like his client, a Russian tool

About Twitter account suspension / Aclaratoria sobre suspensión cuenta Twitter

First it shut my account, now Twitter is allowing impersonators to propagate #fakenews:

Didn't even take 24 hours for somebody (NOT ME) to register https://twitter.com/Alek_Boyd_ (I am not going to link to it), and make a bunch of fake claims about me, my website infodio.com, and my alleged actions to recover my verified Twitter account (@alekboyd). I reiterate that I have decided not to seek Twitter's pardon, I will not be begging for a reactivation of my verified account, and I am waiting for Twitter's reply re my data, accumulated there since 2009. I sincerely hope Twitter will at least give me the chance to recover every last bit of content in my timeline.

To get the latest:

1. check infodio.com;
2. check this blog;
3. check https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/
4. check https://twitter.com/infodi0

  --------------

Para quienes han sido engañados por la cuenta @Alek_Boyd_, lean por favor esta aclaratoria:

Aclaratoria sobre suspensión cuenta @alekboyd en Twitter 

Ayer Twitter suspendió mi cuenta @alekboyd. Ya salió un impostor (NO SOY YO) (https://twitter.com/Alek_Boyd_) a publicar sandeces de ataques a este sitio desde Singapur, y otras pendejadas. No estoy solicitando reactivación de mi cuenta de Twitter, no he registrado ninguna cuenta nueva, aunque estoy usando una llamada @infodi0, y no estoy siendo víctima de mayor ataque que no sea el intento de silenciar información sobre corrupción relacionada con Alejandro Betancourt, Gustavo Guaidó y Vanessa Neumann.

Si queda alguna duda sobre la autoría de publicaciones con mi nombre, revisar:

1. infodio.com;
2. éste blog;
3. https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/
4. https://twitter.com/infodi0

View this post on Instagram

Ayer @twitter me suspendió la cuenta. Como estoy en desacuerdo con esa decisión no me molestaré en borrar los tweets que o los bolichicos Derwick, o Vanessa Neumann (Embajadora de Guaidó en Reino Unido) encuentran inapropiados. He pedido a @twitter me devuelvan toda mi data, desde q uso esa plataforma. Espero lo hagan. A quienes siguen interesados en leer lo que publico sobre #corrupción en #Venezuela, y sobre la #sociedaddecómplices, les sugiero visiten https://infodio.com

A post shared by Alek Boyd (@alek.boyd) on Aug 28, 2019 at 6:45am PDT

Matthias Krull / Francisco Convit case dwarfed by Charles Henry de Beaumont's

There’s quite a lot of chatter in law enforcement / judicial circles about Matthias Krull, Francisco Convit & un-named conspirators. PDVSA is, as usual, the centre of everything. Krull, who has already pleaded guilty, knows things about Raul Gorrin’s (Conspirator 7) “other businesses”. But that’s not all. Let us recall that PDVSA was hit with an identical -but substantially larger ($4 billion)- scheme, set up by Conspirator 2 in Krull’s case (partner of Convit, Alejandro Betancourt) with Rafael Ramirez, Luis Oberto and brother Ignacio.

The DoJ is sitting on a mountain of evidence from Charles Henry de Beaumont, a Krull-style “banker” tasked by various Venezuelan “entrepreneurs” to launder billions of dollars. As in the Krull / Convit case, Swiss banks were used (Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique, EFG), as well as Austria’s Meinl bank. Betancourt is refusing to provide comments on the record on involvement, due to his alleged ongoing collaboration with DoJ.

Sources report also that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has started subpoenaing people associated to PDVSA Litigation Trust. That will open another can of worms, for both defendants and plaintiff are nothing but enablers of vast corruption. Allegedly, DoJ officials visited Switzerland recently, with the purpose of getting all the information related to PDVSA’s criminal complaint, filed by Gueric Canonica (Wilmer Ruperti’s lawyer) with former-colleague-cum-prosecutor Johan Droz. Ruperti is also having trouble answering requests for comments owing to medical issues.

That DoJ has taken on the case is a blessing, really. Maybe Conoco’s action against David Boies & co had something to do with it.

La corrupción de Raul Gorrin y Luisa Ortega Diaz

Emmanuel Andrade y Raul Gorrín

Lo de RAUL ANTONIO DE LA SANTISIMA TRINIDAD GORRIN BELISARIO (alias Raul Gorrín Ced. 8.682.996), para ser franco, era un tema pendiente. El problema en Venezuela es que hay tanta corrupción, que es humanamente imposible estar al tanto de todos los casos. De Raul Gorrín me habían hablado, pero nunca había visto pruebas, documentos, o evidencia de los guisos en los que estaba metido este hampón.

Eso cambió hace pocos días, cuando recibí una parte de un archivo, que mantenía la fiscal Luisa Ortega Diaz bien encaletado en su oficina, sobre las actividades financieras de Raul Gorrín con la Oficina del Tesoro de Venezuela, léase Alejandro Andrade y compañía.

 

Resulta que Raul Gorrín era uno de los operadores financieros preferidos de Alejandro Andrade, quien, en su posición de dizque Tesorero de la Nación, monto un mega guiso con Gorrín. Si entendí bien los documentos que Luisa Ortega decidió engavetar, el mecanismo de la Oficina del Tesoro era el siguiente:

1. Ordenes de compra de Bonos del Tesoro de Gran Bretaña, denominados en Libras Esterlinas;
2. El monto en Libras Esterlinas era convertido a Dólares, por la Oficina del Tesoro, a 1,62 Bolívares x Dólar;
3. El monto en Dólares era reflejado en los balances de la Oficina del Tesoro a razón de 4,30 Bolívares x Dólar;
4. Gorrín vendía en el mercado negro, a más de 9 Bolívares x Dólar, los Dólares que le asignaba Andrade a través de la Oficina del Tesoro;
5. Gorrín debía pagar a la Oficina del Tesoro el equivalente en Bolívares del monto asignado en Dólares;
6. Gorrín hacia los pagos a la Oficina del Tesoro a través de cuentas en Banplus y el Banco Industrial de Venezuela.

Pongamos un ejemplo:

• un bono por 100 millones de Libras Esterlinas se convierte en 162 millones de Dólares;
• la Oficina del Tesoro refleja en su balance 696.000.000 millones de Bolívares ($1 = 4,30 Bs) que Gorrín tiene que pagar;
• los 162 millones de Dólares asignados a Gorrín son vendidos en el mercado negro a 9 Bolívares x Dólar;
• Gorrín sólo necesitaba vender 77 millones de Dólares (a 9 Bs x Dólar) para recuperar los 696 millones de Bolívares que debía pagar;
  
• Gorrín se queda con el restante, es decir $162.000.000 - $77.000.000 = $85.000.000, y lo reparte con sus panas.

Según documentos de la fiscalía Gorrín usaba empresas de maletín (Halifax Group C.A., Comercializadora Servinvest C.A., Inversiones Integrales Totalgroup C.A., Multiset Trade C.A., Grupo Hancock C.A., e Integrados Whymper C.A.) para éste esquema de corrupción.

La Tesorería adquirió 2.880.000.000 de Libras Esterlinas en bonos entre mayo de 2011 y abril de 2013. La Fiscalía estima que Gorrín se habría metido 1.450.000.000 de Dólares.

 

Por qué Luisa Ortega Diaz no investigó este caso? Muy sencillo, por que es socia de Gorrín. 

 

Gorrín es parte de una banda, llamada "los enanos", formada por el difunto Danilo Anderson, Mariano Diaz, Gustavo Perdomo y otros. Esta banda logró posicionarse en los tribunales y, mucho antes de hacerse multimillonarios, vendían protección judicial. Es decir, quien tuviera algun caso abierto en tribunales / fiscalía / Ministerio Público pagaba a estos bichos para que dichos casos fueran engavetados o cerrados. Es así como Gorrín establece relación con German Ferrer, esposo de Luisa Ortega Diaz, y ello explica cómo Ortega Diaz puede mantener el estilo de vida que mantiene, aun en el exterior.

Gorrín, a través de Ferrer, protegió por ejemplo a los bolichicos de Derwick Associates durante años. Gorrín ha fraguado también muy buena relación con Maikel Moreno, el hampón al frente del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, quien también actúa como protector de Derwick Associates.

Fuentes informan que la relación comercial de Gorrín con el banco suizo Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique (CBH) se estableció gracias a su ex-socio Luis Oberto y a los bolichicos de Derwick Associates, todos ellos clientes de CBH a través de Joseph Benhamou y Charles Henry de Beaumont.

Una de las cuentas controladas por @RaulGorrinB en Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique: depósitos por 2.914.655.249 dólares... y @lortegadiaz? Contando las comisiones... pic.twitter.com/FGM7OmaOPq

— alek boyd (@alekboyd) 29 May 2018

Gorrín no sólo movió fondos a través de CBH, otro conocido banco suizo EFG Bank, también participó en el guiso así como HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, UBS, Bank of China, Wells Fargo, Totalbank Curaçao, BOI Bank (Victor Vargas), Davos Bank (David Osío), CBA Bank & Trust (Aristides Maza Tirado), Banplus (Diego Ricol Freyre) y Banco Industrial de Venezuela. Por supuesto que ningún banco cuestionó origen de los fondos que transfería Gorrín. Los dineros de la corrupción de Venezuela son bienvenidos en toda la banca.

Entre las transferencias / pagos que Gorrín hizo desde CBH, uno encuentra perlas como Profit Corporation, una de las empresa de Samark Lopez, el testaferro de Tareck el Aissami; pagos a Oscar Schemel, a Gustavo Arroyo, a Karina Rosenberg, a Leocenis Garcia, a Teresina Giustiniano, a Gustavo Suriani Perez, a Juan Bravo, etc. 

Luego hay evidencia de pagos a establos, Rontos Racing Stable, o compras de articulos de equitación a Dietmar Gugler u Olaf Petersen (presumo que para congraciarse con Emannuel Andrade), y transferencias a cientos de empresas en Venezuela, Panama, España, EEUU... controladas por los clientes de Gorrín.

Lo de la compra de Globovisión y Seguros la Vitalicia son asuntos menores frente a lo hecho con Andrade en la Tesorería. El Banco Industrial de Venezuela, institución del estado intervenida en 2009, no puso ni una traba. Su director Rodolfo Porro Aletti, quien venía de desempeñarse como jefe de la junta interventora, tampoco vio nada sospechoso. Es decir, instituciones del estado, bajo el control absoluto del chavismo, guisaron a manos llenas con Gorrín y ni el Ministerio Público, ni la Contraloría, ni la Procuradoría, ni la supuesta adalid contra la corrupción hicieron nada.