Venezuela Outlines New Measures to Fight Corruption

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab held a press conference where he gave updated reports on ongoing investigations into a corruption plot dubbed "Andorra." 

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He said that roughly 4,200 million euros were allegedly laundered through the corruption scheme involving the Catalan bank system in Andorra. He added that Venezuela will request that Spain extradite Nervis Villalobos, a former official of Petroleos de Venezuela, Pdvsa, and Ministry of Electric Energy official, for money laundering.

"Villalobos would be the second ringleader of the corruption plot involving Catalan bank Andorra. Also, he's associated with 13 ghost companies that received the amount of 196 million euros between October 2011 and October 2012,” said the senior Venezuelan official.

Being that the Venezuelan state was most affected by the scheme orchestrated by Villalobos while at Pdvsa, Saab stressed that “the money he handled must be repatriated.” He went on to affirm that businessman Diego Salazar Carreno and Jose Enrique Luongo were both detained in Venezuela as part of the investigation.

He also described the moment as being critical for Spain's “real commitment” toward combatting money laundering, hoping that their engagement with the Venezuelan government to resolve this issue is “most appropriate and correct.”

With Villalobos currently detained in Madrid, Saab went on to describe the ongoing investigative work carried out by Venezuela's Public Ministry as being an “unprecedented crusade that has the unrestricted support of President Nicolas Maduro."

In this vein, Saab compared the current probe with that of the former Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz, who ordered to discontinue the corruption scheme investigation involving Andorra.