The son-in-law of a outstanding Venezuelan opposition chief was sentenced Tuesday to 2 and a half years in jail for his function in an enormous conspiracy to siphon $1.2 billion from the state-owned oil firm, a few of which allegedly landed into accounts managed by President Nicolás Maduro ’s stepsons.

Fernando Vuteff, 53, was arrested on a U.S. warrant in 2022 in Switzerland whereas on a go to to retrieve a beneficial watch from a secure deposit field held at a financial institution in Zurich. The Argentine asset supervisor is the son-in-law of former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, a fierce Maduro opponent. He was charged in Miami federal courtroom with laundering bribes and illicit proceeds from a pretend international foreign money alternate scheme involving senior Venezuelan officers.

Vuteff, in a November deposition to Swiss prosecutors, described feeling panicked when he discovered that three sons of Venezuelan First Girl Cilia Flores from a earlier relationship have been behind monetary accounts held within the title of 4 Scotland-registered shell corporations he helped arrange. The invention got here after a 2015 assembly he organized for an affiliate in Malta at which “Los Chamos” — Venezuelan slang for “the youngsters” — confirmed up unexpectedly.

“We needed to shut the accounts. Nevertheless it was very troublesome to shut these accounts as a result of every account had over $100 million in it. Who would settle for that sum of money so rapidly?,” Vuteff instructed the Swiss prosecutors in Miami, explaining how over the subsequent two years he was pressured to steadily switch the cash out of the accounts.

“This strain included threats due to the political place these individuals had,” he mentioned, referring to Maduro’s stepsons. “They weren’t regular individuals.”

A transcript of the deposition was offered to The Related Press by somebody aware of the investigation on the situation of anonymity for the reason that Swiss investigation is ongoing.

Corruption is rampant in Venezuela — the nation trails solely Somalia in a extensively cited rating of 180 international locations for perceived ranges of graft — and U.S. prosecutors have uncovered billions in fraud and bribes related to prime officers lately.

However the prosecutorial strain, which incorporates indictments for drug trafficking towards Maduro and a number of other aides, has finished little to loosen the self-described socialist chief’s grip on energy. Maduro is ready to be sworn in Jan. 10 for a 3rd six-year time period after claiming victory on this summer season’s presidential election regardless of widespread proof his opponent gained by a two-to-one margin.

In the meantime, the as soon as plentiful Venezuela caseload has dried, as a number of key prosecutors in Miami have resigned, the Justice Division has turned its consideration to nationwide safety probes in China and Russia, and the Biden administration has dangled sanctions aid in a thus far futile effort to entice Maduro into altering course.

Vuteff’s is without doubt one of the highest profile defendants to have been arrested as a part of Operation Cash Flight, a multi-year investigation led by U.S. Homeland Safety Investigations focusing on corruption inside Venezuela’s oil trade. A number of others stay fugitives together with Vuteff’s former boss, Ralph Steinmann, in a Swiss agency and one in all their former purchasers, Raúl Gorrín, a billionaire media tycoon charged in October with ginning up a currency-exchange scheme utilizing pretend mortgage agreements to embezzle greater than $1 billion from state-run oil firm PDVSA at a time of collapsing crude manufacturing.

Gorrín was beforehand charged in 2018 for his alleged involvement in a separate bribery case by which he’s alleged to have paid bribes together with yachts, non-public jets and champion show-jumping horses to 2 former Venezuelan Nationwide Treasurers.

Now a convicted cash launderer for billionaires, Vuteff got here from humble beginnings, working from the age of 12 in a laundromat his household owned beneath the small condominium the place they lived in rural Argentina.

Protection lawyer Brian Bieber mentioned Vuteff felt deep regret for his errors, actively cooperated with the federal government’s investigation and had already paid dearly for his crimes by being unable to be at his dad and mom’ bedsides once they died attributable to journey restrictions.

“I do know the choice prior to now have been mistaken and I’m not looking for excuses to justify them,” Vuteff, holding again tears, instructed Choose Darrin Gayles at Tuesday’s sentencing.

Prosecutors led by Assistant U.S. Lawyer Nalina Sombuntham had sought a sentence of 41 months.

“I do know I can by no means undo the hurt I’ve precipitated. However I can promise you that I’ve used this expertise in my life to alter,” Vuteff added. “My solely want is to redeem myself.”

Twenty 9 childhood buddies, enterprise associates and kinfolk of his Venezuelan spouse additionally wrote letters to the courtroom looking for leniency. Conspicuously absent was any letter from Vuteff’s father-in-law, Ledezma, who led huge protests towards the federal government earlier than being arrested in 2015 on allegations he was plotting a coup. Ledezma fled home arrest in 2017 and took up residency in Spain, the place Vuteff was dwelling previous to his arrest.

“I’ve discovered to like Fernando like a son,” Ledezma’s spouse, Victoria Capriles, instructed Choose Gayles at Tuesday’s sentencing. “He has earned my belief, our affection.”

As a part of his plea settlement earlier this yr, Vuteff agreed to forfeit over $4 million in unlawfully obtained property, together with actual property in Miami, Spain and Paraguay.

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Comply with AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america