Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen, who She was Hugo Chávez’s nurse and former treasurer of the Venezuelan regime, will appear this Monday before the federal court of West Palm Beach, after his extradition from Spain.
The woman, ex-military and once powerful, seeks that Judge William Matthewman grant her freedom, while she is being prosecuted for receiving juicy bribes in exchange for granting income to businessmen, through an advantageous exchange system of the country.
Ready to pay bail
In a letter to the court, his defense made it known six days ago that Díaz’s mother-in-law and a friend, whom he did not identify, they’re ready to back a million dollar bail for the woman to be tried in freedom.
And now they are expected to offer a similar sum when her husband lands, also a retired military officer, Adrián José Velásquez Figueroa, prosecuted for the same facts. This will be extradited in days, also from Spain, where the couple filed several appeals to avoid being left in the hands of the Drug Control Administration.
Former national Venezuelan Treasurer Claudia Diaz arrived in South Florida last night and is custody. Diaz’s arrest is pursuant to an @HSI_Miami led investigation on money laundering and foreign corruption act violation, which resulted in her indictment on Dec. 16, 2020. pic.twitter.com/vhrVw6bHna
— HSI Miami (@HSI_Miami) May 13, 2022
Link with PDVSA
Florida sources told Time that it is taken for granted that the woman will not get bail. In addition, they believe that Chavez’s former nurse has key information to process files of the regime close to Nicolás Maduro and the leadership of Petróleos de Venezuela.
“It is possible that someone is paying the bail so that he does not speak. The Prosecutor’s Office has already argued that there is a flight risk for Mrs. Díaz,” the source said. And he added that the former treasurer has information that could even affect one of the measures that the Biden government took in the face of Venezuela.
It is about the exclusion from the so-called Clinton List of Carlos Erick Malpica Flores, known as the “favorite nephew” of Cilia Flores, the wife of Nicolás Maduro. Díaz was a subordinate of Malpica when he served as secretary of the Treasury of Venezuela.
In addition to Malpica’s removal from that blacklist, Biden granted temporary authorization for talks to resume between Chevron and the state oil company.
The corporate framework
“If the former nurse Díaz begins to speak, as expected, the case against Malpica will begin to move. And one thing is diplomacy and the gesture of good will to remove it, and another is the judicial”, explained the source.
Regarding Malpica, the Treasury Department knows that there are at least 16 companies registered in Panama, linked to its environment. In fact, they were included in the so-called Clinton List, for high risk in terms of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
The sanction of the Office of Foreign Assets Control on the “favorite nephew” of Cilia Flores dates from July 2017, and along with him were other officials of the regime, such as Tarek William Saab.
Time entered the official OFAC website and, despite the announcement by the Biden administration, the businessman’s name is still among those sanctioned.
The affairs of the couple
As for Diaz, justice tracks nine companies –in Panama, Venezuela and the United States– linked to her husband. Josmel Velásquez, former PDVSA regional budget manager and Díaz’s brother-in-law, would also appear there.
It is being investigated whether, in addition to the bribes, these firms received money from the regime.
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