US charges Venezuelan media tycoon with money laundering
Al Jazeera
Raul Gorrin Belisario, owner of Globovision, allegedly took part in $1.2bn scheme to launder corrupt oil money.
The United States has charged a Venezuelan media mogul with ties to President Nicolas Maduro for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the indictment of Raul Gorrin Belisario, who owns Venezuela’s pro-government Globovision news network.
It said Gorrin took part in a $1.2bn scheme “to launder funds corruptly obtained from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), in exchange for hundreds of millions in bribe payments to Venezuelan officials”.
Still at large, he faces up to 20 years in prison if arrested and convicted.
“Gorrin’s alleged conduct enriched corrupt government officials and exploited the US financial system to facilitate these crimes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M Argentieri, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division.
