MIAMI (Reuters) – A former Venezuelan treasurer who also served as an aide to late President Hugo Chavez has been convicted in the United States for money laundering in association with a corruption scheme in the South American nation.
Claudia Diaz, a former Navy sergeant who served as Venezuela’s national treasurer from 2011 to 2013 and was Chavez’s nurse when he was being treated for cancer, was extradited from Spain to the United States in May.
A Florida jury convicted Diaz, as well as her husband Adrian Velasquez, on two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a court filing on Tuesday.
U.S. prosecutors in an indictment originally filed in 2020 said Diaz received at least $65 million in bribes between 2011 and 2013 in exchange for helping Raul Gorrin, also a Venezuelan national, obtain dollars at a favorable exchange rate.
Diaz, Velasquez and Gorrin purchased and paid expenses related to private jets, yachts, mansions, champion horses, and a designer fashion line, in South Florida, according to the indictment.
Gorrin, who is believed to live in Venezuela, is also named in the indictment.
“I am very disappointed with the verdict. I will continue to fight for Mr. Velasquez Figueroa and Mrs. Diaz Guillen,” wrote lawyer Marissel Descalzo, in an email to Reuters on Wednesday.
A lawyer who has represented Gorrin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gorrin in 2018 was indicted in Florida on charges of violating U.S. anti-corruption laws in connection with Venezuela currency exchange schemes.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
