The Republic of Cabo Verde extradited a Colombian national who was indicted for money laundering in connection with an alleged corruption scheme in Venezuela. The defendant made his first appearance since extradition before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
In July 2019, the DOJ alleged that the Colombian national and another individual engaged in money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering by moving funds derived from a bribery scheme from bank accounts in Venezuela to and through U.S. bank accounts. The underlying bribery scheme allegedly involved payments to Venezuelan government officials in return for granting the defendants and their co-conspirators access to Venezuela's government-controlled foreign currency exchange system, thereby allowing them to obtain U.S. dollars at a favorable exchange rate.
As previously covered, in July 2019, OFAC also designated the extradited Colombian national and a "vast corruption network" for allegedly aiding Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his regime in various corruption schemes.
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