A Venezuelan media tycoon is charged in a bribery conspiracy in Florida

MIAMI — A Venezuelan media tycoon was charged Wednesday in federal court in Florida for what authorities say was his money laundering role in a conspiracy to siphon more than $1 billion from the oil company owned by the South American country’s government.

A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment charging Raul Gorrin in an alleged scheme to launder funds he obtained from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A, also known as PDVSA, in exchange of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribery payments to Venezuelan officials, the U.S. Justice Department said in a press release.

Gorrin, 56, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. He was previously charged in another other federal case and is considered a fugitive by the U.S.

Gorrin did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment. Howard Srebnick, a Miami-based attorney who has represented Gorrin in the past, did not immediately respond to a request for comment but previously has said the Venezuelan businessman denies any wrongdoing.

“Gorrin’s alleged conduct enriched corrupt government officials and exploited the U.S. financial system to facilitate these crimes," said Principal Deputy Assistant General Nicole Argentieri. "The United States is not a safe haven for carrying out money laundering schemes or hiding criminal proceeds.”

Gorrin is among an elite group known in Venezuela as “boliburgueses,” people who amassed huge fortunes during the late President Hugo Chavez ’s government. Their wealth has since drawn scrutiny from U.S. prosecutors, who have tied many to shady real estate deals, yacht purchases and other transactions meant to hide their fortunes.

Gorrin helped purchase Venezuela's popular television network Globovision in 2013 and softened its anti-government coverage.

Between 2014 and 2018, Gorrin conspired with others to launder proceeds from the bribery scheme using the U.S. financial system as well as bank accounts in other countries, according to court documents.

The documents state that Gorrin and his co-conspirators paid millions of dollars in bribes to high-level Venezuelan officials to obtain foreign currency exchange loan contracts with PDVSA.

The laundering of illicit proceeds were directed in part to South Florida, where they were used to buy real estate as well as yachts and other luxury items. Gorrin and his co-conspirators used shell companies and offshore bank accounts to conceal the movement of the bribe payments and illicit funds, according to the documents.

Although he was not charged, Gorrin was also referred as “Conspirator 7” in another indictment filed at the federal court in Miami more than five years ago. In those court papers, “Conspirator 7” is identified only as the billionaire owner of a TV network in Venezuela. But two U.S. officials familiar with the case identified the person at the time as Raul Gorrin. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the allegations.

That case was linked to a scheme that started a decade ago and exploited a rigid currency system that Venezuela’s government had in place before the country fell into a political, social and economic crisis.

The scheme involved fake loan agreements with PDVSA designed to embezzle between $600 million and $1.2 billion from the company at a time of collapsing oil production. As part of that ongoing investigation, known as Operation Money Flight, numerous PDVSA officials and their European money managers have pleaded guilty or been charged with money laundering.

To facilitate the dealmaking, the conspirators paid out millions in bribes, including to family members of one unnamed official referred to as “Los Chamos” — Venezuelan slang for “the kids.” The “Chamos” are President Nicolas Maduro ’s stepsons, the two U.S. officials previously told the AP.

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Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano contributed to this report from Mexico City.