MIAMI — A Venezuelan media mogul who has fled his country is facing federal charges in Florida for his alleged involvement in a money laundering conspiracy that allegedly diverted over $1 billion from the government-owned oil enterprise of Venezuela.
A federal grand jury based in Miami issued an indictment against Raul Gorrin Belisario, alleging his participation in a scheme to launder massive sums obtained from Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., commonly known as PDVSA. The U.S. Justice Department indicated that these funds were allegedly obtained through bribery payments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars directed at Venezuelan officials.
At 56 years old, Gorrin is being charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. If found guilty, he faces a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. He is already considered a fugitive by U.S. authorities, having previously been charged in two distinct federal cases.
Gorrin has yet to make a public response regarding these latest developments. Principal Deputy Assistant General Nicole Argentieri commented on the case, stating, “The conduct attributed to Gorrin not only benefited corrupt officials but also exploited the U.S. financial system to further such criminal activities.” She also emphasized that the U.S. is not a secure environment for individuals attempting to conduct money laundering operations or to hide illicit proceeds.
Gorrin belongs to a distinct cohort in Venezuela known as “boliburgueses,” individuals who accumulated vast wealth during the presidency of Hugo Chavez. Their financial activities have drawn significant attention from U.S. prosecutors, who have linked many of them to dubious real estate transactions, luxury yacht acquisitions, and other financial maneuvers aimed at masking their wealth.
In 2013, Gorrin played a role in acquiring the well-known Venezuelan television network Globovision, shifting its editorial stance to one that was less critical of the government.
Between the years 2014 and 2018, Gorrin worked in collaboration with others to facilitate the laundering of money from the bribery scheme, utilizing the U.S. financial system in conjunction with international bank accounts, as depicted in court documents.
According to those documents, Gorrin and his associates executed bribes amounting to millions to obtain foreign currency exchange loan contracts with PDVSA, benefiting from the corrupt practices of high-ranking Venezuelan officials. The illicit proceeds from this operation were funneled primarily to South Florida, where they were utilized to purchase high-end real estate, yachts, and other extravagances. Gorrin and his co-conspirators employed shell companies and offshore bank accounts as a means of disguising the flow of bribe payments and the illicit funds involved in this scheme.
