The corruption scheme led by opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido will be investigated by Venezuela’s public ministry, an announcement a day after the country’s communication minister Jorge Rodriguez revealed the details of the misuse of “aid” funds, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a press conference Tuesday
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The official indicated that the investigation arises after a public complaint following a report by the Panama Post online outlet, in which invoices, the theft of some funds that were directed to Venezuelans in the city of Cúcuta, in Colombia were revealed.
The perpetrators of the fraud, according to the Saab, were identified as Rosana Edith Barrera Castillo and Kevin Javier Rojas, who also committed unlawful acts for months.
In addition, he reiterated that Guaido, direct boss of Barrera y Rojas, is considered the intellectual author of this web of corruption.
The prosecutor also noted that "stolen funds have been used for individual personal expenses, alcohol consumption, recruitment of prostitutes and presumably to fund destabilizing acts against the country."
With this money, a media war had been carried out “with the use of others' pain and misery,” said the head of the Venezuelan public prosecutor's office.
Consequently, this investigation was commissioned to national prosecutors on corruption and national competence, who will take the necessary steps to gather evidence of these crimes, explained the country’s top prosecutor.
The public official pointed out that the funds are directed from Venezuela, therefore, it is up to his office to investigate the origin of these funds and their use.
Meanwhile, Saab questioned, "if Guaido and his team have not come to power [yet] and are already doing these acts of corruption, what will they be doing with the funds of the Venezuelan Citgo Petroleum Corporation?”
Evidence of the corruption actions was unveiled Monday by Venezuela’s Vice President of Communication and Culture Jorge Rodríguez.