The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice dismissed an appeal filed by four people accused of defrauding the Government of Aragua and consequently left unscathed the sentences imposed on them, according to sentence 164 drafted by magistrate Carmen Castro.
The investigation into the scam began in December 2017 at the request of the recently elected governor of Aragua, Rodolfo Marcos Torres. This event occurred when Tarek El Aissami and Caryl Bertho were governors.
As a result of this complaint, the Public Ministry established that the Government of Aragua “was the victim of an embezzlement in its bank account for the amount of more than 15,990,211,806.00 bolivars, which were transferred irregularly through the use of two non-accredited electronic users with almost full privileges to manage said account”, says the Chamber.
With these fraudulent users, they managed to transfer the indicated sum to seven companies identified as: HVJ Construcciones CA; Bernal Zeis Constructions CA; Agricultural Agrocampo 2015 CA; Construction and Remodeling ZR2 CA; Yaris Fashion CA; Babysitter CA and Jacci Boutique CA
Among the people prosecuted for this act is Sinamay Linares Sánchez, who worked as Secretary of the Treasury of the Government of Aragua, sentenced to 24 years and three months in prison after being found guilty of money laundering, among other crimes.
Linares and the other five appealed the sentences before the Criminal Chamber, but the magistrates considered the catalog of arguments “manifestly unfounded”, for which reason they dismissed the appeal.
The rest of the people sentenced are: Harold Bernal (Bernal Zeis Construcciones Company), who will pay 16 years and 6 months; José Ángel Infante sentenced to 19 years and 9 months; Rubén Núñez (Nuñera CA), tax of 4 years and 6 months. While Yaritza del Valle Vásquez (Yaris Fashion) and Osmer Orlando Rodríguez were acquitted
