The Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace reported in a statement the arrest of two men accused of being part of a network dedicated to exchange manipulation outside the price placed on currencies by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) through auction processes, which results in the devaluation of the Bolívar.
In the statement, the Ministry of the Interior states that, through investigations, the Strategic Operations Group (Goes) “determined that citizens José David Silva Moreno and Francisco Rafael Valera Aristimuño were part of a network dedicated to illicit activities. This network specialized in illegal trading of platforms and bank accounts, using automated software through the Binance platform, with the aim of manipulating the official exchange auction mechanism of the Central Bank of Venezuela and obtaining illicit profits.
The criminal actions of Silva Moreno and Valera Aristimuño ”have a negative impact on the value of the Bolívar and the national exchange market, framing their actions in the so-called economic war against the Venezuelan State.”
During the procedure, a laptop containing the malicious software, iPhone brand cell phones and other electronic equipment intended to attract users were seized.
Likewise, it is noted that the detainees maintain radical political positions and actively participate in WhatsApp groups where they express opinions contrary to the Venezuelan State and incite hatred.
The statement from the Ministry of the Interior is accompanied by a video where it is revealed that the detainees carried out between 30 and 80 daily operations, mobilizing between 1,000 and 3,000 dollars per transaction, applying an exchange rate up to 58% higher than the official one, which generated benefits of several million bolivars per day.
Between last May and June, the Bolivarian National Police arrested approximately 50 people accused of promoting the so-called parallel dollar through digital portals. This criminal action was described by the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, as mechanisms for political purposes aimed at the chaos of the Venezuelan economy.
