Raul Gorrin Belisario ("Gorrin"), a Venezuelan citizen with a residence in Miami, was a co-owner of the Globovision news network in Venezuela.
Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen ("Diaz") served as the Venezuelan National Treasurer from 2011 to 2013.
Adrian Jose Velasquez Figueroa ("Velasquez") was Diaz's husband.
According to the allegations in the indictment, between 2008 and 2017, Gorrin paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Diaz and to Alejandro Andrade Cedeno, both of whom served as the Venezuelan National Treasurer at separate times, in order to secure the rights to conduct foreign currency exchange transactions worth over $1 billion at favorable rates for the Venezuelan government. It is alleged that Gorrin wired money to the officials as well as purchased and paid the expenses for private jets, yachts, champion horses, and high-end watches. The currency exchange transactions resulted in profits to Gorrin of hundreds of millions of dollars.
On August 16, 2018, the DOJ filed a sealed indictment in the Southern District of Florida against Gorrin alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and direct money laundering violations. The case was unsealed on November 19, 2018.
On December 15, 2020, the DOJ filed an eleven count superseding indictment against Gorrin, Diaz, and Velasquez alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and direct money laundering violations.
On December 13, 2022, a jury found Velasquez guilty on counts two, nine, and ten, and Diaz guilty on counts two and ten. The jury acquitted Diaz on count 9.
On April 19, 2023, the court sentenced both Velasquez and Diaz to 15 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. The court ordered both Velasquez and Diaz to each pay a criminal fine of $75,000 and jointly to forfeit $136,752,007.46 in ill-gotten gains. The court further ordered Velasquez to pay $300 and Diaz $200 in mandatory assessments.
On April 25, 2023, both Velasquez and Diaz notified the court that they were appealing the judgment to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal. On February 15, 2024, the Court of Appeal remanded the proceedings to the district court for the limited purpose of resentencing the defendants.
On March 11, 2024, the court resentenced Velasquez and Diaz, reducing each's 15 year imprisonment to 12 years.
The case against Gorrin is ongoing.
