Hugo Carvajal, at the hearing on his extradition held at the National High Court.


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Hugo Carvajal, at the hearing on his extradition held at the National High Court.

The National audience has stopped the open investigation into the financing of Podemos that was opened after the statements of the Venezuelan military Hugo ‘the Chicken’ Carvajal. According to legal sources, the Third Criminal Section has estimated the appeal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office against part of the proceedings ordered by the reinforcing judge of the Central Investigating Court number 6, Joaquín Gadea. The Public Ministry considered them excessive according to the data available and considered that they were prospective in nature. Sources close to the investigation indicate that the decision to review the accounts of companies that, according to the Venezuelan military officer, had been used to raise funds for Podemos from the Chavista regime when the political formation was in the making, has been revoked. In his statements, the former head of military espionage with Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro recounted various ways in which money would have been provided to some of the founders of Podemos so that the political project could materialize. Among those who would have received money would be mainly Juan Carlos Monedero. The Criminal Chamber has also revoked the judge’s order to review the Monedero trips that would be due to these illegal financing maneuvers, according to legal sources. The case, which is kept secret, remains open and the order given by the judge to the Police to investigate the veracity of what the Venezuelan military officer said remains in force. The results of these checks could result in new investigative proceedings, including those now blocked, but this time with a sufficient basis. The court has questioned some of the witnesses who, according to Carvajal, could corroborate his statements. The former military officer offered to collaborate with the Justice and report the alleged illegal financing of Podemos by Venezuela when he was on the verge of extradition to the United States to be tried for drug trafficking. His statement before the head of the court, Manuel García Castellón, meant reopening a case on the accounts of the purple formation that had already been filed in his day.

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