Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1016519
5 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 AUGUST 2018 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Kurt Portmann is the found- er of private equity firm Port- mann Finances SA of Swit- zerland, and has served as a director on various energy and oil and gas firms. He is the founder-chairman of London brokers Optiva Securities. Nei- ther Kurt or Yves-Alain Port- mann are mentioned by name in the Miami court complaint. According to the Homeland Security Investigations crimi- nal complaint – which the Miami Herald said concerns Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro – his stepsons helped launder US$1.2 billion in funds pilfered from Petroleos de Venezuela, of which point a hefty portion was wired to the Maltese intermediary between late 2014 and early 2015. Using a series of fraudulent bond issues and investment funds, around €511 million in 10 wire transfers was laun- dered through Malta, accord- ing to the criminal complaint. The eight defendants named in the complaint are accused of embezzling funds from Ven- ezuela's enormous oil income and exploiting its foreign- currency exchange system to amass illicit fortunes in Europe and the United States. To leverage their profits, the defendants took advantage of their special access to the Ven- ezuelan government's foreign- currency exchange system, which offers a far superior rate of exchange than the normal market. That access was al- legedly used to convert boli- vars into dollars and euros as the defendants plundered the country's oil riches. While the Maltese private investment that allegedly laun- dered the ill-gotten proceeds was unnamed, the criminal complaint says it received up- wards of €20 million for laun- dering the money at a 4% ser- vice charge. The complaint named Ven- ezuelan national Jose Vin- cente Amparan Croquer, aka 'Chente', as a "professional money launderer" who is asso- ciated with a Spanish company that serves as a money laun- dering front operating as a real estate investment firm". According to the criminal complaint, "Amparan also maintains relationships with 'European Financial Institu- tion 1' in Malta, a private in- vestment firm, which he uses to launder money." US investigators used email search warrants to confirm the flow of the funds "from PDV- SA to the defendants and other conspirators through Europe- an Financial Institution 1" (the Maltese institution). One email cited in the crimi- nal complaint includes an at- tachment titled 'Operation 600k', which contained work- sheets detailing the illicit cash flows from Venezuela to Malta. A work sheet titled 'Detailed Income from PDVSA' shows 10 transfers from PDVSA from 29 December 2014 through 3 February 2015 totalling €511,913,270.74. Another worksheet called 'Summary of the 600 Opera- tion' shows that of this money, €20.4 million was assigned to the Maltese 'European Finan- cial Institution 1' as a 4% fee; €227 million went to Ven- ezuelan conspirator Francisco Convit Guruceaga, €159 mil- lion to Maduro's stepsons, and €68 million to conspirator Raúl Gorrín, owner of the Glo- bovision television network in Venezuela. The remaining €36.9 million was accounted for as the 'cost' of the initial 7.2 billion Boli- vars used to obtain the €511 million. This last transaction was done through a Hong Kong shell company named Eaton Global, which ended up with the right to pay PDVSA about 7.2 billion Bolivars (€35 mil- lion) and receive about €510 million – of which about €78.8 million was sent to the Home- land Security's investigators' confidential source. Raúl Gorrín is also said to have sent dozens of US dollar wires through banks in Malta and Austria, including to avia- tion and yacht services as well as brokerage companies in Mi- ami, Florida. According to US wire taps, the organiser of the scheme is Mathias Krull – a 44-year-old German national and Panama resident – who was said to have devised a way of putting US$200 million held in a Mal- tese financial institution in the name of a straw owner. The emails show Krull talk- ing about the money's move- ments to and from Malta. In the court documents it is reported that the confidential source asked, "Are these the guy's sons?" – a reference to Maduro's stepsons – to Krull responded, "Nah. Don't, don't, don't ask." Krull, who was arrested at Miami International Airport in July, is seen in the emails ac- knowledging receiving money from the Maltese institution and assuring the confidential source not to worry about the Maltese institution. The alleged money-laun- dering conspiracy began in December 2014 with the cur- rency-exchange scheme to em- bezzle the PVDSA revenues. But the defendants' associate later become a confidential source for the US investiga- tors, who approached Home- land Security investigators in Miami about cooperating in 2016. a one-stop shop for all your investments Visit any BOV branch or Investment Centre in Malta or Gozo to discuss your financial planning requirements and to set an appointment with one of our professional Financial Advisors. Issued by Bank of Valletta p.l.c., 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta VLT 1130 More information is available from www.bov.com or contact 2131 2020. The value of investments may go down as well as up and may be affected by changes in currency exchange rates. At Bank of Valletta, we provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment needs. You can choose from a wide range of deposit products, life assurance, investment plans, investment funds, portfolio management and stockbroking services. BOV INVESTMENTS Bank of Valletta p.l.c. is a public limited company regulated by the MFSA and is licensed to carry out investment services in terms of the Investment Services Act (Cap. 370 of the Laws of Malta). Bank of Valletta p.l.c. is an enrolled tied insurance intermediary of Mapfre M.S.V. Life p.l.c. Mapfre MSV Life is authorised by the MFSA to carry out long term business of insurance under the Insurance Business Act (Cap. 403 of the Laws of Malta). COM 1980 Malta firm in US graft probe