Javier Alvarado, former Vice Minister of Energy of Venezuela and former director of Corpoelec, stated that for years he collaborated with prosecutors and the United States embassy in Venezuela, passing them information about corruption in PDVSA, while it was directed by Rafael Ramírez.
Among the records Alvarado shared with the United States are details of a $250 million no-bid contract for a power plant signed by Ramírez. The information was released by the journalist Joshua Goodman.
Javier Alvarado
Against Alvarado there are a series of court proceedings for acts of corruption for illicit enrichment. He is investigated in Spain, the United States and Andorra.
In a mega-operation of the Andorran Justice, he was linked to a complex network of briefcase companies in tax havens, through which he acquired luxury real estate in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; In Madrid Spain; as well as in Miami and New York, United States.
The property that most caught the attention of the authorities is the one in Cartagena de Indias, since it is a luxury hotel named Anandá.
«Alvarado invested in 2014 a figure of 4 million dollars in this business. It was made with 70% of the shares of the establishment; and paid off a debt of 2 million dollars with a bank belonging to the company that owns it, according to the documents,” revealed an investigation by the newspaper The country.
According to this information, in order to keep the Anandá hotel, Alvarado acquired 70% of the shares of the company Inversiones Calle del Cuartel, which owned the hotel. For this, he used the Luxembourg firm Sirena International SA. The movement is recorded in the minutes of the extraordinary meeting of Inversiones Calle del Cuartel on November 7, 2014.
Alvarado’s sentimental partner
The country It also revealed that the representative of Sirena International SA in the transaction was Ceciree Casanova, Alvarado’s sentimental partner.
The woman was responsible for human resources at Electricidad de Caracas, which had been directed until 2010 by Alvarado. “After the purchase, Casanova became the main director of the company that owns the hotel, according to the minutes,” the Spanish newspaper said.
In addition, the former deputy minister is accused of diverting 15 million dollars to accounts in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Dominica. And he is accused of receiving transfers of 25 million dollars from Nevis Villalobos, another former Deputy Minister of Energy; and another 8.8 million dollars from Luis Mariano Rodríguez Cabello, who was a business manager for Diego Salazar, cousin of Rafael Ramírez.
In court filing, ex Venezuela minister Javier Alvarado claims that for years he passed info to prosecutors and U.S. Embassy exposing corruption at @PDVSA.
Among the records he shared: details of a $250 million no-bid contract for a power plant signed by ex oil czar @RRamirezVE. pic.twitter.com/KiwboKUS4w
— Joshua Goodman (@APjoshgoodman) September 16, 2022