Juan Carlos “Charly” Duarte is part of the first ring of resigning Vice President Hugo Velázquez. This is a former prosecutor from Ciudad del Este, linked to several complaints of alleged corruption, and a money laundering scheme promoted from the triple border. He is currently legal advisor to EBY. Now both have been declared significantly corrupt by the US for a $1 million bribe to stop an investigation against Velázquez.
“Charly” is currently legal advisor to the binational Yacyretá and receives a salary of G. 87 million per month, according to salary leaks to which the newspaper La Nación had access last year.
Duarte, former fiscal superintendent in Alto Paraná-Canindeyú, questioned for his striking procedures during investigations with the then prosecutor, Hugo Velázquez, became linked to Walid Amine Sweid and Ricardo Galeano, whose family “Charly” was a defense attorney. Sweid and Galeano are identified to date as part of a mega money laundering scheme in Ciudad del Este.
So prosperous was his experience as a lawyer for those implicated in money laundering and others that upon his return to public office and his accommodation in the hydroelectric plant, he accumulated an estate of G. 20,940,808,557, which includes numerous properties, 0km vehicles, shares for G. 990 million and even an aircraft valued at G. 1,050 million, according to LN.
Despite his striking background, he settled in Yacyretá at the hands of Vice President Velázquez.
“Charly” is also remembered for playing football matches with Velázquez, in addition to appearing in a photo on board a yacht, on a tour of Lebanon, when Velázquez was a deputy. In that image, Duarte Martínez appears to the right of the then legislator.
Said photo had become public after the publication of an investigation presented to the United States Congress, in which the Arab Walid Amine Sweid, also sitting next to Velázquez, was identified as one of the alleged financiers of the terrorist group Hezbollah, who allegedly sent remittances money from the Triple Frontier, as published by Última Hora.
The US declares Hugo Velázquez significantly corrupt for a bribe of US $ 1 million
At a press conference, the US ambassador, Marc Ostfield, announced this Friday that the US State Department appointed Vice President Hugo Velázquez due to his participation in acts of corruption, including offering a bribe to a public official . Along with him, his close friend Juan Carlos Duarte Martínez was also designated as significantly corrupt.
This measure was adopted, as highlighted by the US authority, because credible information was received of the participation of both mentioned in an offer of bribery. “Duarte, his close associate, offered a bribe of more than a million dollars to obstruct an investigation that threatened the vice president and his financial interests,” he said.
In addition to Hugo Velázquez, his wife, assistant prosecutor Lourdes Samaniego, and their children are no longer eligible to enter the territory of the United States, Ostfield announced.
The United States had declared significantly corrupt the late former Colorado senator Óscar González Daher, former state attorney general Javier Díaz Verón, deputy Ulises Quintana and former president Horacio Cartes, in addition to their children.