An investigation is underway in Paris for suspicions of money laundering targeting Venezuelan personalities who allegedly acquired real estate in Saint-Barthélemy worth 30.4 million euros with dubious funds, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Friday. confirming information from the World.
According to the investigation by Le Monde with the investigative consortium Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, the magistrates of the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco) are interested in the investments of businessmen Luis and Andres Oberto, who acquired on the French island of Saint-Barthlemy a building plot of more than 5,600 square meters with direct access to the sea and a villa, for a total amount of 30.4 million euros in 2012 and 2013.
Justice seized these assets in February and March 2022, confirmed the prosecution.
These two brothers appeared in a huge scandal of embezzlement and corruption linked to the public oil giant PDVSA, which has shaken Venezuela for several months.
According to the consortium’s investigation, the real estate investments of the Oberto brothers drew the attention of the French authorities during investigations into a Franco-Swiss banker who managed the finances of the two businessmen within the Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique.
The prosecution confirmed that an investigation was opened on them at Junalco Financire for presumption of incidental money laundering, during an investigation by the specialized interregional financial jurisdiction (JIRS), launched after a report from the intelligence unit of the Ministry of the Economy Tracfin.