The defense attorney for some 200 savers hopes that the Constitutional Chamber of the TSJ will decide in the coming weeks whether to admit or reject the lawsuit. The savers hope that they will return $25 million from accounts opened in Venezuela and whose funds they sent to banks in the Caribbean of the company that owns the BOD
The president of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Gladys Gutiérrez, will be in charge of deciding whether to admit the lawsuit of at least 200 Venezuelan savers against Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD), the company Cartera de Inversiones Venezolanas and Víctor Vargas Irausquín, as established in file AA50-T-2022-000831 of the Constitutional Chamber of the highest court.
The lawsuit was introduced on October 25 and in which the plaintiffs request that they return 25 million dollars corresponding to funds deposited in Caribbean banks, plus the interest generated. Among the precautionary measures they request is the creation of a trust and the seizure of the shares of the Venezuelan Investment Portfolio.
“The precautionary measures are intended to guarantee the results of the process. It would make little sense to win a process that in normal times could last a certain time and when there is a definitive answer you do not have anything to collect on, “commented lawyer Carlos Calderón, one of the defenders of savers.
In a telephone conversation with the whistlerecalled that after the purchase of the assets and liabilities of the BOD by the Banco Nacional de Crédito (BNC), a process begins for the transaction to materialize and that can last up to two years. «What we ask in defense of savers is that a part of that payment be kept in a trust and delivered to the winners of the trial. If we lose, that it be returned to whoever corresponds and if we win, we already have where to collect, “he explained.
Calderón hopes that the lawsuit will be admitted or rejected by the TSJ before the end of the year. He pointed out that the decision is within the usual deadlines, so the highest court must rule in the coming weeks. “I do not think it will be expected for next year, I think it is appropriate for the (Constitutional) Chamber to rule,” pointed to the news portal.
Lawsuit to the BOD
The plaintiffs are natural and legal persons who opened accounts from the BOD headquarters in Venezuela. The funds corresponding to the opening of these accounts were sent to the banks abroad of the Venezuelan Investment Portfolio, according to Calderón.
The company Portfolio of Venezuelan Investments 99.57% owned by Víctor Vargas Irausquín. This company owns the Orinoco banks in Curaçao, Boibank in Antigua and Barbuda, Allbank in Panama and Bancamérica in the Dominican Republic.
Previously, savers participated in claims before Banco Orinoco, BOI Bank and Allbank. In Curaçao there is a trial in a court of first instance to decide whether to proceed with the liquidation of Banco Orinoco, announced in 2019.
In Venezuela, they first requested the intervention of the Superintendency of Banking Sector Institutions (Sudeban). This body pointed out that it has no competence to get involved in jurisdictions of other countries.
*Read also: Sudeban gives two years to liquidate BOD assets and will control the process
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