Joselit Ramirez, head of Venezuela’s cryptocurrency authority Sunacrip, was arrested on March 18, according to local media reports, having led the agency since its creation in 2018. Ramirez, who had led the agency since its creation in 2018, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a corruption scheme involving the embezzlement of $3 billion related to unregistered oil sales.
Sunacrip boss Joselit Ramirez arrested
Joselit Ramirez, head of Venezuelan cryptocurrency authority Sunacrip, was arrested on March 18 on suspicion of corruption. According to areportin the local newspaper Ultimas Noticias, Ramirez’s arrest is part of a special state operation against corruption that also includes the arrest of more high-profile individuals, including Cristobal Cornielles, president of the judicial circuit in Caracas, and Mayor Pedro Hernandez The report said.
Details of the investigation have not been disclosed, but local media have indicated that the arrests are related to the disappearance of $3 billion in Venezuelan oil sales that did not go into state accounts.
Venezuelan oil sales paid for in crypto have previously been detected by the U.S. government, which has sanctionedthe state oil company PDVSA since January 2019In October, two oil brokers used cryptocurrency and shell Company and were charged with brokering illicit oil transactions on behalf of PDVSA.
Ramirez, who has led the agency since its inception in 2018, was also named as one of the Venezuelan officials indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on March 26, 2020, on charges of narco-terrorism and corruption. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was also indicted at the time.
Restructuring Commission Designation
As a result of the arrests, President Maduro signed anexecutive orderdealing with the restructuring of Sanacrip and the removal of Ramirez. The measures, effective March 17 and lasting for a period of six months, will be carried out by a restructuring commission that will study the current state of the agency and propose changes in its rules and procedures to “contribute to the goals and objectives” of the country.
As part of this presidential decree, Maduro stated that the measures were taken “to protect the Venezuelan people from the negative effects of the multiple types of aggression that are being committed against the country.” The restructuring committee will be presided over by Anabel Pereira Fernandez and will have three principal directors. The three main directors will be Hector Obregon, Luis Perez, and Julio Mora. Another three alternate directors were also designated.
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