The citizen Ernesto Quintero was presented this Monday by electronic means from the 51st Control Court of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, before the 9th Control Court of Zulia, for the massive scam against hundreds of people from the ABA Mercado de Capitales brokerage house, The Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, reported this Tuesday.
During a press conference, Saab indicated that Quintero was charged with the crimes of continued fraud, money laundering, appropriation of resources and securities, and association to commit a crime to the detriment of multiple victims.
In this case, the court admitted the prequalification of the crimes and the deprivation of liberty was agreed, as well as the blocking and immobilization of bank accounts, the prohibition of alienating and encumbering, and the seizure of assets, said the Prosecutor.
Extradited from Spain
The Attorney General also reported that “on July 14, the active extradition of Ernesto Quintero was carried out from Spain, requested by this Public Ministry in March 2019, for being part of the scam of hundreds of victims by the ABA Mercado de Bolsa brokerage house. Capitals, based in the state of Zulia.
Saab emphasized that this case represents an “important advance in the search for justice in an event that shocked the state of Zulia”, since hundreds of victims were involved, mostly elderly people.
He explained that in Spain it has become a common practice to call oneself politically persecuted, as a strategy to try to evade justice in crimes such as corruption, fraud, money laundering.
“In this case, it has been shown that the attempted politicization carried out could not defeat the evidence presented by the Public Ministry,” he stressed.
Hundreds of affected
According to Saab, the victims of this economic fraud “number approximately 300 people, from whom about 50 million dollars were stolen. Most of them are elderly people, who invested their life savings in this brokerage house».
News in development…
