THE VENEZUELA-PANAMA-ANDORRA PIPELINE FOR BRIBES AND KICKBACKS OF VENEZUELAN PEPS

The Banca Privada de Andorra scandal, which broke recently, regarding American sanctions imposed upon of the Panamanian branch of an Andorran financial institution, should not have come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the international movement of illicit funds by corrupt Venezuelan PEPs. Andorra has been reported, including on this blog, a number of times, as one of the preferred destinations for dirty Venezuelan money, consisting mainly of bribes & kickbacks paid to PEPs for steering Venezuelan government business to international corporations. The disclosure, that a senior Venezuelan PEP, from PDVSA, actually sought to bribe Andorran bankers, to unfreeze his funds, demonstrates the extent to which Andorra was used to hide the proceeds of corruption.

Even David Murcia Guzmán, the DMG pyramid/Ponzi schemer, was known to have sent funds, through cooperating Panamanian banks, to Andorra, so media statements reflecting that this is breaking news do not reflect what was general knowledge in the compliance industry.

Unfortunately for the Venezuelan PEPs, their financial advisers apparently didn't do their due diligence; Andorra, without a central bank, and outside the European Union, has no resource for financial rescue, should its banking structure become impaired. The money launderers advising the Venezuelan PEPs should have cautioned their clients, and made them aware that they could sustain a total loss of their deposits, should the current crisis, or some other untoward event, occur, plunging the banks into insolvency. Have you seen any "Flight Capital" coming into your bank, from Andorra, lately ?