Between 2007 and 2013, four military personnel continuously headed the National Treasury Office, and four of the last seven treasurers are sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury. Via Vendata.org it was possible to have the map of who accompanied them during their shady stays in the treasury.

Just a few months ago, the former treasurer of the nation, Alejandro José Andrade Cedeño, pleaded guilty before a US court for money laundering, in a case involving more than one billion dollars in bribes. He was formally charged according to file number 18-cr-80054-ROSENBERG, and six real estate properties in the state of Florida, 15 vehicles, 17 horses, 35 luxury watches and nine bank accounts in the United States and Switzerland were confiscated.

The ex-military has not been the only one in a green uniform within the republic's treasury, nor the only one accused of corruption. Claudia Díaz Guillén, former nurse of President Hugo Chávez and treasurer during the 2011-2013 period, was arrested in Spain in April 2018 together with her husband, Adrián José Velásquez, who was Chávez's aide-de-camp.

The Venezuelan prosecutor's office has been requesting, since the end of 2018, that Díaz be extradited for crimes of money laundering, illicit association and embezzlement, after his name appeared in the investigation of the "Panama papers" for hiding an undeclared fortune with the help of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

In March 2018, it was also announced that 16 companies registered in Panama, all related to the direct family of the former treasurer of the Nation, Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, nephew of the first lady Cilia Flores, had been included in the list of sanctioned by the government of that country, for being considered high risk in terms of money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

No wonder four of the last seven national treasurers are sanctioned by the United States Department of Treasury. Sanctions that involve the freezing of all the assets they have in that country and the prohibition of all Americans from doing transactions with them. According to the American government, these people have participated in corruption schemes, diverting billions of dollars from the Venezuelan public coffers.

The review of more than 3.000 official gazettes, belonging to the period 2006-2018, as part of the collaborative project to open data Vendata Led by the Venezuelan Press and Society Institute (IPYS Venezuela) and Transparencia Venezuela, it provided a map of the charges for which former national treasurers have walked in the public administration and who accompanied them during their shady stays in the treasury.

The "custodians" of the treasure

The National Treasury Office (ONT) is endowed with administrative, budgetary and financial management capacity of the national public sector. It will be able to manage and must guard the funds belonging to the republic, as well as determine the needs of issuance and placement of bills of the nation; as established by the Organic Law of the Financial Administration of the Public Sector, disclosed on December 30, 2015 in extraordinary gazette 6210. The national treasurer is appointed by the Minister of Finance.

Basically, every State has to obtain income for its operation. The main source is usually tax collection, a function fulfilled by the National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service (SENIAT). The second source of income is the issuance of public debt, which is the function of the National Public Credit Office (ONCP).

All the money collected should go to an account in the Central Bank of Venezuela to be used for public spending. Finally, the State must organize how to pay its expenses and investments. That is the responsibility of the National Treasury Office and the treasurer. “The treasurer is the great custodian of everything that comes in and when payments should be made,” explains Christi Rangel, economist and PhD in Economic and Business Sciences.

In Venezuela, those responsible for guarding the wealth have been chosen more for their proximity to power and their loyalty to the revolutionary process than for their qualifications for the position, based on administrative and financial skills. "Under the current regime, that office acquired a highly personal tinge, without maintaining hierarchical subordination with the minister, but instead became a trusted official of the President of the Republic," explains Maximir Álvarez, former vice president of Monetary Operations of the Bank Central Venezuela.

The nation's treasurers tend to have a longer tenure in their positions than the same finance ministers and usually manage a low profile by not appearing in the media giving public statements. However, some of them have achieved public notoriety by leaving their posts and occupying positions of power. For example, Rodolfo Marcos Torres and Rafael Isea.

Not only the head of the National Treasury Office, sub-treasurers, accounting directors, expense directors, planning managers, commission heads and heads of units within the treasury have also held different positions of power and decision-making in the administration. public.

“Treasurers have always been widely known (and courted) by those who depend on their decisions: banks, contractors, government finance managers, mayors and decentralized entities, to name the most important. One of the usual businesses (at least until 2007) of private banks, mainly medium and small, is to finance contractors and suppliers of goods and services to the State. For this reason, it is essential for the banks that the ONT order the payments to its clients so that they in turn pay the loans without delay”, explains Álvarez.

The importance that the treasury acquires as the entity responsible for the execution of said payments, brings with it the risk of succumbing to pressures and bribes that benefit the speed and discretion of certain payments. Also, within the republic's funds, there are foreign currency resources, which in a nation plagued by foreign exchange crimes as a result of the imposition of strict exchange control, places the ONT in the eye of the hurricane.

Well, being the custodian of, for example, public debt bonds or papers, either from Venezuela or from other countries whose value is appraised in the main currency of exchange in the world, the dollar, this office can decide that these bonds are sold to make the payment of certain debts. And thanks to the exchange regime, the buyer of that debt would be buying bonds appraised and payable in dollars but at the price set by the official exchange rate.

What was presented as a succulent business for different financial, development and brokerage firms that could then sell these bonds at the price set by the parallel market or black dollar, obtaining large dividends thanks to the exchange differential.

Along the same lines, the ONT could also decide that State resources will not only be under the protection of public financial entities, but also private ones that obtain dividends from these funds, as banks do well. So that decision-making power of the treasurer could well be seduced by multimillion-dollar bribes. As exemplified by Alejandro Andrade when he was sentenced by the US courts for participating in multi-million dollar bribes.

"In conclusion. The ONT controls the flow of government payments, which in a country with a State that represents a significant proportion of the economy, is a key function for many sectors. Under the current regime, that office acquired a highly personal tinge, without maintaining hierarchical subordination with the minister, but instead became a trusted official of the president”, says Maximir Álvarez.

an opaque background

On July 20, 2005, the National Fund for National Development (Fonden, SA) was created, established by the Bolivarian Government to invest the income that Venezuela receives as a product of oil exports. The Fonden was born in parallel to the nation's budget, however the funds did not go through the Central Bank of Venezuela and could be expressed in another currency, in addition to the bolivar.

Created with the aim of "financing real productive investment projects in all areas, in addition to improving the profile and balance of the external and internal public debt", the Fonden "may additionally allocate its resources to support government management in situations special needs that require it and attention to eminent national needs and conveniences or any other aspect that results in the economic and social development of the country”. This is established by the website of the Ministry of Finance.

However, since there was no control in the execution of expenses, the fund became a nest of corruption. In March 2018, the deputy for the State of Zulia, Elías Matta, reported that the Energy and Petroleum Commission of the National Assembly will investigate the National Development Fund (Fonden) in which 143 thousand 573 million dollars were wasted since the year 2005 to the present.

Below is a list of those who have led the Treasury Office, from 2006 to date, and who has accompanied them.

January 10, 2007 (Alejandro José Andrade Cedeño)

Andrade Cedeño was appointed treasurer in the Official Gazette 38601 of January 10, 2007. He is a retired lieutenant who graduated from the army in the Tomás Montilla Promotion in 1987, the same one from which renowned political figures such as Carlos Rotondaro, former president of the Venezuelan Insurance Institute, graduated Sociales (IVSS) and Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Constituent Assembly.

Andrade was one of the officers who participated in the coup attempt in February 1992. He was also the main director of the administrative board of the vice presidency of the republic, president of the Economic and Social Development Bank (Bandes), president of Banfoandes and Vice Minister of Financial Management. He is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in the United States for money laundering.

One of the names that stands out within his work team during his time at the Treasury Office is José Alberto Obelmejías Machado. In 2008, Deputy Ismael García filed a complaint against acts of corruption in which Andrade and his trusted administrator, Obelmejias Machado, were involved with the Attorney General's Office.

Machado was also part of the team of former treasurer Claudia Díaz and held positions at the National Airport and Port Development Foundation, at the National Institute of Aquatic Spaces and at Bandes.

January 6, 2011 (Rodolfo Marco Torres)

Military graduated in the Manuel Manrique Promotion of 1988, the same promotion as Iván Rafael Hernández Dala, head of the honor guard of Nicolás Maduro. Marco Torres was appointed treasurer in the Official Gazette 39.588

Marco Torres is the current governor of Aragua state, located in the center of the country. He was Minister of Food, director of Banco de Venezuela, president of Banco Bicentenario and Banco del Tesoro, among other positions. On the Poderopedia portal he is mentioned as the "finance czar" for having held executive and managerial positions in financial matters since 2001.

He was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury in January 2018 for being involved in corruption cases.

His time at the National Treasury Office was brief, only five months.

May 16, 2011 (Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillen)

Claudia Díaz Guillén is a retired Army soldier and was a nurse for former President Hugo Chávez. In addition to presiding over the National Treasury Office, a position in which she was designated in Official Gazette 39.674 on May 16, 2011, she was the secretary of the Development Fund (Fonden) between 2011 and 2013. Díaz was sanctioned by the Treasury Department American in January 2019.

It is requested by the Venezuelan justice for money laundering and embezzlement.

During his management in the treasury, he also had José Alberto Obelmejías Machado, Andrade's trusted administrator, who was his Director of Tax Revenue Collection. Pedro Ygnacio Lara Ceballos, who was assistant treasurer during the Díaz period, also worked with Andrade.

Jennifer Quintero and Adriana Carolina Golding Bello, who were also part of his team, later worked with Carlos Erick Malpica during his treasury management.

Currently a Legal Consultant in charge of the Ministry of Popular Power for Economy and Finance, Golding Bello has worked in various instances of the public administration: Procurement Commission of the National Budget Office (Onapre) in 2008, Procurement Commission of the National Center of Foreign Trade (Cencoex) in 2015, National Superintendence of Agrifood Management (Sunagro) in 2016 (alternate director), Reorganization and/or Restructuring Commission of the Ministry of Popular Power for Food in 2016, among others.

April 18, 2013 (María Elisa Domínguez Velasco)

Vice Admiral of the Bolivarian Navy, María Elisa Domínguez Velasco was director of Human Resources of the Office of Internal Management of the Office of the Presidency in 2003 during the administration of Hugo Chávez, and held various positions in the management of Tareck El Aissami, both in the Ministry of Interior and Justice as in the Government of Aragua. She was also head of the National Budget Office.

She was appointed treasurer in the Official Gazette 40.150, dated April 18, 2013. Nelson Lepage was Director of the National Currency Line, who later in 2016 held the position of national treasurer. Her subtreasurer was Carlos Erick Malpica, who later replaced her.

A name that stands out in his team, not because of what is known, but because of the number of positions he has held in the public administration is Hazel Dely Chaudary Zambrano. He has been in the General Directorate of Investment Promotion of the Ministry of Tourism in 2008, in the Contracting Commission of the Corporation of Intermediate Industries of Venezuela, SA (Corpivensa) in 2010, of the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information in 2012 and of the National Institute of Tourism (Inatur) in 2014. He was also office director of the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information in 2011 and General Manager of Venezolana de Teleféricos (Ventel CA) in 2013.

Domínguez Velasco was only in charge of the treasury for five months.

September 27, 2013 (Carlos Erik Malpica Flores)

The nephew of First Lady Cilia Flores, during Chavismo-Madurismo Malpica Flores was Vice President of Finance at PDVSA and held positions in the National Assembly, Chancellery and Vice Presidency of the Republic.

On March 30, 2018, he was sanctioned by the Panamanian government, as were companies related to his close relatives, for being considered high risk for money laundering, financing of terrorism, and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Previously, in July 2017, it had been sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.

During his management as Treasurer of the Nation, to which he was appointed in Official Gazette 40.260 dated September 27, 2013, he kept a low profile. He was never shown in public nor was he photographed. Several were the ones who accompanied him in his two and a half years in front of the office, including family members.

January 08, 2016 (Nelson Reinaldo Lepaje Salazar)

Nelson Lepaje was appointed treasurer in Official Gazette 40.824 of January 8, 2016. In 2006 he served as director in charge of the Administrative Management Office of the National Contracting Service and in 2010 he was part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the beginning of 2018, it was sanctioned by both the United States Department of the Treasury and the Government of Panama.

He served as subtreasurer during the Malpica Flores period and part of his team remained. Some of the names that are repeated in this management are: Blanca Albanis Gomez Briceño, Rubens Martin Soto Malpica and Nancy Ninoska Gomez Alamo.

March 15, 2018 (Rainier Alejandro Merentes)

Son of the former president of the Central Bank of Venezuela, Nelson Merentes, Rainer Alejandro Merentes was appointed treasurer in Official Gazette No. 41.631, dated March 15, 2018.

According to his profile published in poderopedia, Rainer Merentes was director of the Strategic Office for Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies and alternate director of the board of directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). He is also a director of Prodem, a bank that operates in Bolivia of which the Bank for Economic and Social Development of Venezuela (Bandes), since 2008, is the largest shareholder.