Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office requested 67 arrests and 142 searches

Caracas, Apr 9 (Prensa Latina) The Venezuelan Public Ministry reported, in a balance of the last 72 hours, that 67 arrest warrants and 142 searches nationwide have been requested to date, as part of the anti-corruption operation "Fall whoever Falls".

April 9, 2023
12:41

This was reported through Twitter by Attorney General Tarek William Saab, who pointed out that these judicial actions are taken by the Venezuelan State to sanction the mafias of the PDVSA-Crypto plot and the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana, among others.

Last Wednesday at a press conference, Saab announced the arrest of a total of 51 people linked to different crimes, in which the case of PDVSA-Cripto stands out with 34 individuals imprisoned and accused, including officials and public operators.

In this “relentless fight” against corruption within the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), 31 plots from 2017 to date were revealed, with 127 people investigated, 10 are in the preliminary phase, 16 are on trial and 75 have been convicted for a total of 228, he detailed.

With the 34 in the PDVSA-Crypto plot, there are 262 people prosecuted for these crimes within the hydrocarbon industry, he pointed out.

The security forces also captured nine individuals in the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana, among whom were the president and vice presidents, including the head of the Siderúrgica del Orinoco.

Another six detainees are related to the justice system; a mayor (Las Tejerías, Aragua state) and another to the Cartones de Venezuela company.

Among the newly arrested by the courts were Hugo César Cabezas Bracamontes, director of the latter entity; Aquino Bisano, who worked as an assistant to the former president of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Caracas Metropolitan Area, already indicted.

In addition to Loreannys Mariana Mejías Díaz, parliamentary assistant, and Fabiola Torrealba, judge Maximino Márquez’s secretary, who appeared days ago before the lawyers.

Saab highlighted the arduous fight against corruption in general, including the one that is being waged within the Public Ministry, where 361 officials were prosecuted, including provisional, auxiliary and superior prosecutors for deviating “from the correct path”, of which 293 were found guilty.

He pointed out that this figure is historic, but “we have to set an example internally”, and stressed that there is trust and prestige in a key institution for the country’s institutionality.

The people have to denounce when they know the officials internally, when they know of any irregularity, he pointed out.

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