The magistrate Venezuelan Maikel José Moreno Pérez was accused by a grand jury of Miami for laundering bribes in exchange for helping to avoid court cases, the Justice Department reported Thursday. US it’s a statement.
Criminal cassation magistrate and former president of the supreme court, Moreno, 57, allegedly received more than $10 million in bribes, mostly from businessmen who had signed contracts with Venezuelan government entities, according to the document.
The accusation assures that Moreno could “influencing judicial decisions in Venezuela” by having the ability to designate the magistrates who judged the cases.
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could also “appoint or dismiss judges of lower courts at the first instance and appeal level”, according to the allegation.
Those criminal activities allegedly took place between 2014 and March 2019.
During his tenure, Moreno received bribes for influencing criminal cases by dismissing charges and warrants for the defendants’ arrest or house confinement, according to the indictment.
He also received payments to intervene in civil cases. The defendant agreed, for example, to authorize the judicial seizure of a General Motors automobile factory (valued at about 100 million dollars) as part of a civil litigation, in exchange for a percentage of interest in the proceeds from the sale of the factory.
Moreno allegedly used the money received to buy or renovate real estate properties around the world, including a villa in Italy’s Tuscany region for €2.4 million, a luxury home in the Dominican Republic for US$1.5 million, a building in Caracas for 1.3 million dollars and an apartment in Miami for 1.3 million dollars.
He also bought cars and luxury items, and spent more than $300,000 for a musical performance at his wedding, according to court documents.
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The grand jury indicted Moreno on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of concealing money laundering and two counts of participating in transactions of property derived from criminal activity.
Each of the money laundering offenses carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and each of the charges of participating in transactions with property derived from criminal activity carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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