Spanish Justice has released Hugo Chávez’s nurse, who was claimed in the US for money laundering

On the basis of provisional freedom, the Spanish justice released the former national treasurer of Venezuela and the nurse of Hugo Chávez on Wednesday, Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén, and her husband, Adrián José Velásquez, what they had been arrested hours earlier in Madrid based on a US claim for an alleged money laundering offense.

Both were made available to the after their arrest Spanish National Court, where they have testified before a judge on duty, who imposed the need to do so appear in court every 15 days. Also has revoked their passports and prohibited them from leaving the country, informed judicial sources.

The judge does not see pre-trial detention as “justified”, so he agrees to their liberty “given the concurrent personal, family and working conditions” as well as “the circumstances and relative seriousness” of the conduct for which they are claimed. Parallel to the court decision, The trial continues with regard to the North American country’s request to extradite both and convicted of the crimes imputed there.

In particular, Díaz and Velásquez, who at the time refused to extradite the National Court to Venezuela for possible violation of their rights, They are being claimed by the United States for the alleged crimes of conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering of monetary instruments. Both crimes are punishable with up to 20 years in prison.

The US Department of Justice recently reported this claim for its alleged participation in a “money laundering and currency exchange“For a value of”billions of dollars”.

Raúl Gorrín Belisario is the owner and president of the Venezuelan channel, according to the indictment Globovision, reportedly paid millions of dollars in bribes to two former Venezuelan national treasurers, Alejandro Andrade Cedeño and Díaz Guillén, and Velásquez “To ensure corruption of the rights to conduct currency transactions at favorable rates for the Venezuelan government.”

The Venezuelan media businessman who considers American justice fugitive and currently residing in Venezuela, was formally charged in August 2018 as an accessory to the same allegations of “conspiracy to launder money” and “money laundering”.

Andrade Cedeño, also a Venezuelan citizen, was sentenced to ten years in prison in November 2018 for “participating in the conspiracy to commit money laundering”.

As part of the settlement agreement, Andrade admitted that he had received more than $ 1 billion in bribes from Gorrín and other stakeholders. “in exchange for using his position as Venezuelan National Treasurer to select them to conduct currency transactions at favorable rates for the country”.

Díaz Guillén and Velázquez were already in Spain in April 2018, when the Venezuelan embassy issued an arrest warrant for the crimes of money laundering, criminal association and illegal enrichment.

Several divisions of the National Court’s criminal section authorized the delivery of Díaz and Velásques to Venezuela in late 2018. However, these decisions were overturned by the plenary session of the criminal chamber of the Supreme National Court for “possible violation of fundamental rights”. of which they could be victims if extradited and in response to the “crisis situation” unfolding in Venezuela at the time.

The decision was taken by majority vote, not unanimity, after examining the appeals filed in connection with the requests for extradition from the Nicolás Maduro regime. Among them was the refusal to transfer José Ramón Sánchez Rodríguez, former accounting officer of Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), who was also claimed for similar crimes

After investigating the three cases, the National Court refused to hand over the former nurse to Chávez and her husband, and upheld the agreement passed in relation to Sánchez Rodríguez.

(With information from EFE)

MORE ABOUT THESE TOPICS:

The UN mission report confirms allegations of torture against political prisoners that are emerging during current trials

They arrested the deputy of the Chavista who threatened two women with firearms in Venezuela