Venezuela — Anti-Corruption Campaign: 142 Raids in Last 72 Hours

Orinoco Tribune, April 10, 2023 — In the last 72 hours, the Public Ministry issued 67 new arrest warrants against citizens allegedly responsible for acts of corruption. Likewise, 142 raids were carried out across the national territory.

The information was released by Attorney General of Venezuela Tarek William Saab, who said that the actions of the Venezuelan State are part of an on-going anti-corruption campaign. He added that these raids seek to dismantle the corruption network within the oil industry, known as the PDVSA-Crypto case.

On April 5, Attorney General Saab announced that, up until then, 51 people had been arrested for various irregularities in companies and institutions of the Venezuelan State.

Accordingly, he explained that there have been 34 arrests in the PDVSA-Crypto case and another six people were detained for the judicial corruption network. Likewise, the former mayor of the Santos Michelena Municipality (Las Tejerías) in Aragua state was arrested.

Tarek William Saab demanded that the Government of Italy execute the extradition of the former minister of the oil industry, Rafael Ramírez, to try him in Venezuela for corruption.

The Public Ministry also demands that the governments of Spain and the United States extradite the former Vice Minister of Energy Nervys Villalobos, as well as Rafael Reichter, Javier Alvarado, Roberto Rincón Hernández, and Adán Sheira Bastidas.