The Creole chameleon, the 70 -year imposter who has been cheating in Madrid for three decades

Foto del autor

By TP

In 1998, José Trinidad Márquez first appeared in a news of this newspaper. It was the story of a false oil executive detained because he tried to scam with a multimillionaire business to one of the large companies in Spain, the construction of Spanish shipyard ships. Almost 30 years later, Márquez maintains his farce. His 70s, this Venezuelan wears as a great lord. Suit, tie, handkerchief, gabardina and wide wing hat. It is cited with its victims in postín restaurants or in the five -star hotels lobby in Madrid, usually near the Castilian. When he knows someone, he extends his visiting card: General Director and CEO for Europe from Pemex, the Mexican oil giant. Only in November and December last year launched its network to almost thirty companies, including multinationals such as Samsung, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Rolls Royce or Morgan Stanley. It is asked to commissions to participate in irresistible but false tenders. At least one company fell last year in its trap. The country has accessed emails, photos and WhatsApps of 2024 and January of this year that show that it retains the modus operandi of the nineties. Thus operates a film scammer that has been baptized by the Venezuelan digital media Armando.info as the Creole chameleon. On Sunday, October 27, Márquez wrote a WhatsApp to an autonomous file based in Murcia and specialized in transcribing audios and videos as judicial evidence, Eliezer José Marín. He presented himself as “an emissary of Dr. Víctor Manuel Navarro Cervantes”, president of PMI Holdings Petróleos España SL, Request of Pemex. He explained that they were going to get dozens of competitions and needed an assistant to write tenders and contact potentially interested companies. He promised him a contract with Pemex for 4,000 euros per month as a “high executive”. The transcriptor, an immigrant from Nicaragua with five children at home, took it on the flight. He left his usual work to devote himself to Márquez, believing that he had a unique opportunity in front. The great scammer told him that he had been lucky: «You will thank me for life.»ELIEZER JOSÉ MARÍN, OWNER OF TRANSCRIPTION Eliman, was hired by José Trinidad Márquez to take the paperwork. Alfonso Duranel Transcriptor worked remotely. He connected by videoconference from home in Murcia and saw Márquez on the screen, in a suit and tie. The oil tanker also connected to his home, in a wide and elegant floor in Madrid. He never spoke from the PMI office on Velázquez Street, in the Salamanca district. This caused strangeness to the transcriptor. Márquez explained that thanks to the pandemic, they realized that they were more productive teleworking. He had to write the specifications and for this Márquez provided him with real PEMEX tenders and gave him instructions to fill them, a work from sun to sun. A list of companies also passed him and ordered him to call them. Márquez wanted to meet at all costs with the sales managers of these companies. The mails seen by the country show that companies sometimes sent employees from other countries to meet with Márquez. On PMI/Pemex side appear in copy several executives, including José Márquez, but also others, including the name of the Mandamás of the Spanish subsidiary, Víctor Manuel Navarro. Over time, the transcriptor realized that they were false mail accounts.José Márquez's false visiting card, 'El Camaléon Criollo'.José Márquez False Business Card, 'El Camaléon Criollo'. The signs that something smelled badly multiplied. The transcriptor received order to respond to companies that the PMI headquarters in Madrid was not available for meetings. «Our offices are designed exclusively for administrative management,» he wrote to Elekta and Human Corporation, two companies that sent delegates from Mexico to a meeting on November 21. «For this reason, as usual in our practice, we suggest that the meeting takes place at its point of reference, either at its hotel or at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid.» On another occasion, Márquez had an appointment on December 19 At 14.00 at the Siemens headquarters in three songs, north of the capital. Siemens indicated that to enter the facilities they had to send them in advance the IDs, according to the security protocol of the German technology. This outraged Márquez, who sensed that he could be betrayed. «What is this to ask us for documentation?» He growled to the transcriptor. «Víctor Manuel has had a heart attack,» he said dismayed. «Informs Siemens that the meeting must be suspended.» The emails reflect condolences for that fantasy misfortune. «We regret to inform you that this early morning our president has suffered a health accident,» the transcriptor wrote. A Siemens manager extended «his most sincere desire for a prompt recovery.» He added: «We completely support the need to prioritize the health of its president.» The Employee of Murcia also told Márquez that he regretted the heart attack, and this passed the phone to a person who spoke for a little less than thirty seconds: “They have given me rest and I can't talk much. Thanks for your call. ” At this point the transcriptor was almost certain that he was teased. Another day, as usual, he spoke by videoconferencing with Márquez when the timbre rang in this domicile. – I call you later, said Márquez, who by accident let him The call will continue. – National Police, it was heard in the background. I don't hide. You have to give me the letter for me to appear. The transcriptor hallucinated. When the agents left, he hung so that the fake thought he had not heard it.

«The motorcycle sells you»

The companies in Márquez's sights reacted very diverse. Fernando Marcos, commercial director of the German manufacturer of Men Energy motors ensures that nothing was swallowed when Márquez called him. «I had half an hour giving me a turra,» he recalls. “And I thought, but what does a guy do in Spain asking to buy engines to send them to Asia? The normal thing is that Mexico tries with Mexico, Spain with Spain and Asia with Asia. ”However, at least one company chopped the hook. This is a real estate that paid 12,000 euros as a bond to compete in a contest for which Pemex was looking for a company that channeled investments of oil executives in luxury villas. «He is an artist of the scam that sells you the motorcycle,» says this businessman, who asks for anonymity. The victim has not denounced. «It's a lot of money, but I'm not going to die for it either.»José Trinidad Márquez, in a photo taken in April last year near the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.José Trinidad Márquez, in a photo taken in April last year near the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. The transcriptor finally confirmed his suspicions when he received a PEMEX mail, before Christmas. Weeks before, I had written them to find out if Márquez was a caach. The legal department confirmed it: “This fact constitutes an attempt at crime and usurpation of identity related to fictional operations.” On Google, the transcriptor found more information. He discovered his long problem history with the law. In 1998, Márquez tried to cheat Spanish shipyards; In 2009, he scammed 247,000 euros to the oil infrastructure company gathered techniques, and was sentenced three years later. In 2014, it extracted 4.5 million euros from the largest Portuguese bank, Santo Esirito. In 2015, he allegedly cheated Gustavo Eustache, who today is a deputy of the popular group of Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. And in 2017, he was also accused of a scam to the companies of former Vice President of Real Madrid, Fernando Fernández-Tapias. Judicial Fuentes and the Prosecutor's Office have not been able to clarify their procedural situation, but it is known that a season spent a season in jail years ago Madrid of Estimera. During part of the last decade, the world was presented to the world as Domingo Galán, the name of a humble Mostoleño who was stolen from his documents. More than Christmas, the relationship between Márquez and the transcriber was tensed. He just wanted to charge. I had not seen a euro despite spending whole days to the computer. On December 27, he made an important ad for WhatsApp. I'm going to sleep because tomorrow I have to get up at 5 am. I'm going to work with a man in the field, I call him tomorrow afternoon, he says we finish type 7 in the afternoon. Be careful with that. God takes care of you, see you tomorrow. Lord in a suit and tie, “good nights, dear friend, mid -January, he denounced him to the police. The case is being investigated by the Unit of Economic and Financial Crimes. The scammer has not responded to the communication attempts of this newspaper. And Márquez does not answer the transcriptor either. This believes that it is still active. «You must be looking for someone to help you continue doing your own.» Considering his almost 30 years of imposture, he is probably right. Do you have something to tell? Write the author to fpeinado@BitcoinDynamic.es