March 19, 2023, 9:32 PM
March 19, 2023, 9:32 PM
A deputy, a judge and a manager of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) are among a group of public officials arrested in recent days for alleged acts of corruption, Attorney General Tarek William Saab informed AFP on Sunday.
The national anti-corruption police asked the Public Ministry to initiate the “judicial prosecution” of various officials who “could be involved in serious acts of corruption and embezzlement“.
In response, Saab appointed five prosecutors “to investigate the serious acts of corruption that link public officials in reprehensible criminal plots,” he said earlier in a statement posted on Twitter.
The prosecutor revealed the names of four of the detainees. Among them is the deputy for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Hugbel Roa, in addition to the lawyer Cristóbal Cornielespresident of the criminal circuit of Caracas.
Also Colonel Antonio Pérez Suárez was arrested, Vice President of Trade and Quality Supply of PDVSA and Joselit Ramírez, National Superintendent of Cryptoactives of Venezuela (SUNACRIP), an organization involved in managing funds from the oil industry through operations with cryptocurrencies.
“The illegal investigations correspond to different branches and levels of public power and involve strategic sectors for national development and the administration of justice,” said the Public Ministry.
Local media reported also the arrest of Pedro Hernández, mayor of the Santos Michelena municipality, state of Aragua, for his alleged links to mafias.
