Alejandro Andrade Cedeno ("Andrade"), a Venezuelan citizen who maintained a residence in Florida, was the Venezuelan National Treasurer from 2007 through January 2011.
According to the documents in this case, between 2007 and 2017, Andrade agreed to accept bribes from co-conspirators, including Raul Gorrin Belisario, who was charged separately, in exchange for selecting them to carry out the U.S. dollar to bolivar exchange process with the Venezualan National Treasury. When Andrade requested, the conspirators would transfer money to bank accounts controlled by Andrade, and in some instances, the conspirators purchased real estate, vehicles, aircraft, horses, and high-end watches for Andrade. In all, the three co-conspirators told Andrade that they held Venezuelan bonds and other assets valued at approximately $1 billion in U.S. currency during this time period for Andrade's benefit.
On December 18, 2017, the DOJ filed a sealed single count Information in the Southern District of Florida against Andrade alleging money laundering violations. On December 22, 2017, Andrade entered into a plea agreement, under which he agreed to plead guilty to the money laundering charge and agreed to a factual proffer which outlined the extent of the money laundering scheme. On November 6, 2018, the court entered a preliminary order of forfeiture against Andrade which ordered him to forfeit $1 billion. The case was unsealed on November 20, 2018, and on November 27, 2018, the court sentenced Andrade to 10 years in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release. The court also ordered Andrade to pay a $100 mandatory special assessment.
