Key facts: Venezuela's banking regulator guaranteed the normal functioning of the financial institution. The feeling of fear about an intervention or collapse of the bank spreads in networks. The Venezuelan government arrested three of the main shareholders of the private bank Bancamiga, who are under investigation for their alleged links to the multi-billion dollar Pdvsa-Cripto government corruption scheme. These are Daniel José, Levin Salvatore and Carmelo De Grazia Suárez, main bankers of Bancamiga, a financial entity created in 2007, with currently more than 1 million open accounts. According to what was reported by the Venezuelan banking regulator, the National Superintendency of Banks (Sudeban), the Public Ministry issued arrest warrants against the bankers, which were executed last Friday, April 19. Sudeban explained in a statement this Monday, April 22, that the arrest of the businessmen responds to the fact that “they participated in this serious corruption plot,” which exceeds USD 16,000 million, according to official estimates. As indicated by local journalists, the arrest warrants against the bankers were issued by the Special Court 2 Against Terrorism. It is estimated that bankers will be charged with different crimes, such as treason, profit or diversion of money, securities or public assets, boasting of relationships or influences, money laundering and association to commit a crime. These are the same crimes that were charged against the former Minister of Petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, the also former Minister of Finance, Simón Zerpa and the businessman Samark López. All of them detained by the Venezuelan authorities for being allegedly linked to the PDVSA-Cripto corruption plot.
Pdvsa-Cripto is the name that the Venezuelan government assigned to the largest government corruption case ever recorded with cryptocurrencies. According to the Chavista administration, it was a network of representatives in which barrels of oil were allegedly sold illegally and the currencies obtained by this shady business were converted into cryptocurrencies to make it difficult to trace them. People linked to the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and the National Superintendency of Crypto Assets (Sunacrip) participated in the scheme. Due to this plot, the authorities of the Caribbean country More than 50 people have been arrested. Political figures stand out, as well as businessmen and, now, Venezuelan bankers accused of participating in embezzlement from the nation. Furthermore, the plot led to the intervention of Sunacrip. The organism carries more than 1 year under restructuring ordered by the Venezuelan Executive. This led the authorities to paralyze permits for mining bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies in Venezuela. According to authorities, they are still tracking some of the money that was apparently stolen by the defendants. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also said that what has been recovered, has been invested in the missions and social programs of its government.