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chairman Bancredito International & Trust BankAnd the Julio M Herrera VelotiniAnd the On Thursday, he resigned from this position and from managing the international banking entity (EBI) after filing multiple counts of conspiracy and bribery by a federal grand jury.
In a written statement sent to this newspaper, The financial institution that Herrera Velotini founded in 2009 has highlighted that the charges disclosed Thursday by the San Juan federal prosecutor’s office are not directed against him and that Pancredito is continuing to operate as normal.
“The Bank continues to operate normally and works closely and cooperatively with the banking authorities of Puerto Rico and at the federal level,” the statement from the Hato Ray-based institution reads.
IBEs are financial entities authorized by the OCIF to establish themselves in Puerto Rico and from here provide services abroad.
In the case of Bancrédito, EBI maintains business in Panama, the Bahamas, and some states such as Florida and New York.
this Thursday, Federal grand jury The Venezuelan banker and economist was charged with six counts, including conspiracy, bribery, electronic fraud and deception to block the right to honest services. According to the indictment, Herrera Velotini conspired with the former governor Wanda Vasquez Garisedformer director of public housing, John Blackmanformer president and CEO of Bankretito, Francis M. Diaz, and former federal counsel and agent, Mark T. Financial Institutions Commissioner (OCIF) to then-Commissioner George Joyner and obtaining that regulator to exempt Bancrédito from the multiple corrective actions that were required in order to comply with Puerto Rico’s International Banking Entities Act and the Federal Bank Secrecy Regulations, or BSA, in English.
For more than three decades, Herrera Velotini has been at the helm of banking and investment firms in Venezuela and Europe. In 2009, he left his homeland in the midst of the economic crisis that occurred there and the nationalization of banks and other companies promoted by the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Hugo Chavez Nicolas Maduro continued.
There, according to a complaint accepted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, one of the institutions Herrera-Velotene runs, called Banco Real-Banco de Desarrollo, was insolvent when the banker sold his shares in 2009 to the Chavez government, which led to charges against him. According to the story in that international forum, Banco Real’s position was so bad and illiquid that once it came under government control, that country’s banking watchdog had to step in.
After Bancrédito was established in Puerto Rio, several recent publications and press reviews set up Herrera Velotene’s business in London.
Puerto Rico’s federal attorney general, Stephen Muldro, indicated Thursday that the federal attorney general’s office will begin an extradition process for the banker and his advisor, Rossini, until they respond to the charges against them.
Since 2015, Pancredito claims to have been the victim of a “capitalized” persecution by the OCIF, a situation that, according to the indictment, would have motivated Herrera Veloteni to use his influence and funds to obstruct the state regulator’s oversight work.
After repeated violations of OCIF guidelines last May, the regulator issued voluntary liquidation order from EBI, a process that is still ongoing.
Last May, Herrera Velotini’s lawyer, Luis Delgado, He refused to be his client He invested in the political campaign of Vásquez Garcid and any accusation against him related to Banco Real in Venezuela.
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