The saga of the PDVSA bribery scandal has taken another surprising turn. According to court documents obtained by finews.ch, an Argentine asset manager has pleaded guilty to helping around a dozen Venezuelan businessmen and politicians launder proceeds from corruption.

Extradited to the USA

This group is said to have bribed executives of the state-owned Venezuelan oil company PDVSA to secure lucrative loans from the state enterprise. Between 2014 and 2018, they allegedly earned around 1.2 billion dollar through this scheme. The now-confessed Argentine transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to bank accounts in Europe, as well as in Miami, Florida, and other parts of the USA. He personally earned about 4 million dollar from these «services.»

The over-50-year-old financial expert was originally arrested in Switzerland and extradited to the USA in 2022, as finews.ch reported at the time.

Six Years in Prison

According to the local newspaper «Hastings Tribune» ,which has been investigating the affair for years, he faces up to six years in prison at his trial this coming August. Another banker, also accused by the Americans of laundering proceeds from the bribery of Venezuelan officials, escaped extradition because he is a Swiss citizen.

As a cooperating witness for the authorities, the confessing banker in Miami can hope for a more lenient sentence, according to the report. His lawyer has already reached an agreement with the court in this regard. Five other individuals indicted in the US case are considered fugitives and are believed to be in Venezuela, South America, and Europe.

Several Banks Reprimanded

In recent years, the corruption case involving the oil company PDVSA has also caused significant waves in Switzerland. In 2017, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation in this context but closed it in 2020. Meanwhile, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) investigated the role of around 30 Swiss banks in the affair and conducted five enforcement proceedings. The supervisory authority reprimanded the Ticino-based Banca Zarattini & Co and the West Swiss Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique (CBH).

At the Zurich-based private bank Julius Baer, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) found in 2020 that there had been serious deficiencies in anti-money laundering measures from 2009 to early 2018. The enforcement proceedings by the Swiss banking regulator were also in the context of the PDVSA affair. Among other things, FINMA temporarily prohibited the institution from making larger acquisitions.

Ex-Baer Banker Sues

The consequences of the affair have recently caught up with Julius Baer, as finews.ch also reported: Matthias Krull, a former Latin America banker at Julius Baer who became embroiled in the corruption scandal and served a prison sentence in the USA, has sued the institution for unjustified dismissal, seeking millions in damages.

The case is still ongoing, but Krull has already been successful with his claims in the second instance in court in Venezuela.