A Colombian entrepreneur will step into a South Florida federal courtroom after a money‑laundering indictment linked him to Nicolás Maduro’s regime and Venezuelan state contracts, court records from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida show.
Alvaro Pulido Vargas,also known as German Enrique Rubio Salas and “Cuchi”,faces charges together with four co‑defendants: Jose Gregorio Vielma‑Mora, Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez, Carlos Rolando Lizcano Manrique, and Ana Guillermo Luis.
Federal prosecutors claim the defendants ran an illegal scheme that tapped contracts with Venezuelan state‑run programs and agencies, such as the food‑and‑medicine distribution network CLAP, the state‑controlled food buyer COBISERTA in Táchira, and the foreign‑trade agency CORPOVEX.
The indictment says the defendants funneled money earned from crooked contracts through the global banking system. Court documents reveal the co‑conspirators shifted at least $10 million directly into U.S. bank accounts owned or controlled by the conspirators and their associates.
Investigators point out that at least $5.5 million of those funds landed straight into accounts situated in the Southern District of Florida.
The charging document further notes that Pulido Vargas and an unnamed partner shuffled at least $170 million through U.S. correspondent banks into accounts owned or controlled by co‑conspirators, food suppliers, logistics firms, and others. Prosecutors say the transfers were designed to hide the money’s origin, ownership and purpose while furthering the bribery operation.
Court filings also reveal that Pulido Vargas‑controlled companies sent at least $22 million to a Mexican freight‑forwarding and shipping firm and another $50 million to a Mexican food‑service business, using U.S. correspondent accounts to cover contract‑fulfillment expenses.
The indictment adds that, faced with currency shortages that hampered Venezuela’s ability to pay foreign vendors, Pulido Vargas and a partner turned to refining and selling gold on Venezuela’s behalf, generating extra U.S. dollars or euros to settle those overseas debts.
The counts cite four wire transfers made between December 2016 and August 2017 from accounts in Panama and Antigua and Barbuda to a Florida account, amounting to over $6.3 million. The filing also alleges a $4,499 credit‑card charge in August 2019 that paid a travel website for a close relative of Vielma‑Mora.
The government is pursuing a forfeiture judgment of roughly $1.6 billion, reflecting the total sum allegedly tied to the illicit scheme.
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