The National Court endorses requesting information from Luxembourg about an account of a Venezuelan ex-charge with 40 million

It agrees with the Prosecutor's Office and orders a letter rogatory to request bank information related to Nervis Villalobos

MADRID, 3 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Criminal Chamber of the National Court has ordered Judge María Tardón to issue a letter rogatory to Luxembourg to request information about an account that the former Vice Minister of Electric Power of Venezuela Nervis Villalobos has in that country "with a balance of 40,000,000 of euros".

The head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 3 had rejected the initial request of the Prosecutor's Office to request judicial assistance from the Luxembourg authorities in the framework of the third separate piece that it is investigating in the so-called 'PDVSA case', regarding the alleged looting of the Venezuelan state oil company and the subsequent money laundering on Spanish soil due to various ex-charges from the South American country.

The Public Prosecutor's Office had asked the judge to issue said rogatory letter because during the investigation carried out by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the Police "the court was informed that the Luxembourg authorities had blocked the account of the entity 'Mirabaud

Judge Tardón dismissed the Prosecutor's request. She considered that the facts that had led PDVSA to present the complaint --and for which the main piece was opened-- were not directed against Villalobos and that the complaint by the Public Ministry --which gave rise to the second piece-- was archived.

Now, in a car to which Europa Press has had access, the magistrates of the Criminal Chamber of the National Court agree with the prosecutors and explain that the actions carried out by the UDEF in relation to the information provided by Luxembourg "They appear in the third piece", where the former Venezuelan vice minister has the "condition of being investigated".

For the Chamber, "it is necessary (...) to ensure the possible civil responsibilities that could accrue from one of the investigated, to access and carry out the investigation order requested by the Public Prosecutor."

In the third piece, the judge puts the magnifying glass on the facts contained in an October 2018 report signed by the UDEF that indicates the existence of "a new operation suspected of money laundering" that would have been carried out by Villalobos to launder "funds of Venezuelan citizens from corruption and fraud" in PDVSA.

The operation, which would have benefited Villalobos, the former legal adviser to the Venezuelan Ministry of Petroleum Carmelo Urdaneta and the president of Globovisión Raúl Gorrín, would be based on an alleged investment by the former vice-minister in a Maltese SICAV for which he would have received a partial refund through stakes in a Spanish company with important real estate assets, Columbus One, and the assignment of a collection right over it for more than 6 million dollars.