A judge on Tuesday denied a motion to former treasurer Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillénknown as Hugo Chávez’s nurse, with whom she sought to dismiss the three charges of money laundering of which she is accused in a US court based on “extraterritoriality.”
In a 15-minute hearing held in Fort Lauderdale (Florida), a city located about 46 kilometers north of Miami, Judge William Dimitrouleas rejected the Venezuelan’s request.
“The motion is denied with the prejudice that it be renewed,” was the response of the Florida court to the request of the lawyer Marissel Descalzo.
In this way, the judge agreed with the US Attorney’s Office that spoke out against dismissing the three charges related to money laundering.
The case of Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén
Hugo Chávez’s nurse, who has been under arrest since May in a prison in West Palm Beach, South Florida, will face trial on October 17.
The lawyer had argued that the US government “lacks extraterritorial jurisdiction.”
The Venezuelan defense argued that the laws “only have internal application” based on a principle that “derives from the risk of ‘unwanted clashes between our laws and those of other nations that could result in international discord’.”
The nurse, who also has Spanish citizenship, is accused of one count of “conspiracy to commit money laundering” and two of “money laundering.”
In the same case of Díaz Guillén, extradited from Spain to the US on May 12, Raúl Gorrín Belisario, owner and president of the Venezuelan channel, is accused. Globovision.
In a document presented to the court in the last month, the Venezuelan’s defense also pointed out that Gorrín “made it clear” in some tweets that the money transfers do not involve her or her husband Adrián José Velásquez Figueroa.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Gorrín, a fugitive from US Justice, paid millions of dollars in bribes to two former Venezuelan national treasurers, the nurse and Alejandro Andrade Cedeño, to secure the rights to carry out foreign currency exchange transactions at favorable rates.
The defense detailed that neither Díaz nor Figueroa “transmitted, transported or transferred any monetary instrument to the United States to promote any illicit activity.”
Close to Hugo Chavez
The couple was very close to Hugo Chavez, who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013 from cancer.
On May 24, the defendant pleaded not guilty before Judge William Matthewman in West Palm Beach Court.
According to court documents, Judge Matthewman ruled on June 1 against the release on bail of Díaz Guillén after the Prosecutor’s Office warned of the danger of flight.
The trial will be presided over by Judge Dimitrouleas, of the Fort Lauderdale Federal Court.
Díaz Guillén and her husband are known as Chávez’s nurse and bodyguard, because she was part of his health team before being named national treasurer, a position she held from 2011 to 2013, and he was her head of security.
Apparently his relations with Nicolás Maduro are not so good, since in 2016 they settled in Spain and say they cannot return to the country.
