WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Venezuelan former owner of Banco Peravia was sentenced to three years in U.S. federal prison Thursday for his role in a money-laundering scheme linked to a plot to convert Venezuelan bolivars to U.S. dollars through a rigged exchange system.
Prosecutors say Gabriel Arturo Jimenez Aray, 50, conspired with Raul Gorrin, 50, the owner of Venezuelan TV-network Globovision, to acquire the bank in the Dominican Republic with the intent to use it for money laundering schemes linked to corruption in Venezuela.
Jimenez Aray pleaded guilty March 20 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors say the two were involved in schemes to defraud the Venezuelan government and launder the money.
Alejandro Andrade Cedeno, 54, the former national treasurer of Venezuela and a bodyguard to the late Hugo Chavez, confessed to receiving bribes from Gorrin. He moved to Palm Beach County's Wellington in 2012, where he had luxury cars and more than a dozen horses.
Prosecutors charged Gorrin with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, conspiracy to commit money laundering and nine counts of money laundering.