Chavista official arrested for embezzlement of 3000 million dollars

In an operation that raises suspicion in Venezuelawas arrested by the Anti-Corruption Police Joselit Ramirezpresident of the association National oversight of crypto assetsand he is looking for a group of people among whom, it is rumored, at least one representative in the National Assembly was elected in 2020, who is not internationally recognized.

According to Venezuelan official media Latest newsRamírez was accused of the “disappearance” of $3,000 million in cryptocurrencieswhich were used to collect oil invoices and thus avoid US sanctions.

The news is a heavy blow to Nicolás Maduro’s government, which has announced in recent weeks that it will not resume negotiations with the opposition until a similar person imprisoned in international banks for humanitarian aid under UN supervision is released. It also calls into question the whole claim that it is precisely the sanctions that make it impossible to solve the country’s most urgent problems because the executive power has no money.

The arrest is also a setback for Chavismo-appointed comptroller Elvis Amoros, who has repeatedly supported the reports presented by Ramírez; and, in general, for the so-called The anti-blockade constitutional law, illegally approved by the parallel State Constituent Assembly established between 2018 and 2021, which, under the pretext of protection from sanctions, bypasses all control mechanisms established in the Constitution and other laws.

Ramírez, a close associate of Maduro, and esp Tareck El-Aissamiminister of petroleum, has been blacklisted by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since 2019, and there is a $5 million reward for his capture from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), both US agencies.

In addition, it is stated that the anti-corruption police are also looking for a member of parliament who also belongs to Chavism, and that two soldiers have been arrested, both: Colonel Antonio Pérez Suárez and Lieutenant Colonel José Agustín Ramos Chirinosassociated with the state oil company PDVSA.

According to the same information, El Aissami himself would fall out of favor with Maduro, while the so-called dissident Chavism adds fuel to the fire. Andrés Izarra, Chávez’s former minister, accused of corruption and exiled to Germany, described the operation as a “gang showdown”, while exiled journalist Ibéyise Pacheco pointed out that “several people from El Aissami’s closest circle are looking for a way out of the country”.