Bolibourgeoisie
[6][7][8] Henry Ramos Allup, a leader of the opposition party Democratic Action, has said corruption in the financial industry and other sectors of Venezuela is tied to government officials of the Chávez administration.
[11] Alejandro Andrade, who was appointed Minister of Finance by President Chávez, owned a private Learjet 45 worth $10 million that was registered in Delaware.
Alejandro's son, Emanuel Andrade, was also sponsored by his father and is a decorated show jumping jockey and owned multiple horses that are worth up to millions of dollars and studs that can earn profits from breeding.
[12] While Chávez was President, he stayed in the most expensive locations, with hundreds of individuals composing his entourage that included masseuses, chefs, tailors and Cuban doctors.
[15] Chávez and his family also wore designer clothes along with high-end fashion accessories and jewelry, with brand names including Cartier, Dolce & Gabbana and Patek Philippe & Co. among others.
[15][16] The daughters of Chávez have been seen with celebrities such as Justin Bieber, traveling internationally visiting places such as Disneyland Paris, New York City and Patagonia while also attending concerts of Madonna.
[27][28] Carlos Aem Flores, a self-described "producer", has been seen at various government facilities "working" close to Bolivarian officials such as President Maduro and the National Assembly.
[citation needed] He has been seen sporting luxury brands of Cartier, Hublot, Louis Vuitton and Rolex and driving a special Transformers edition Chevrolet Camaro, a Ferrari F430, a Mercedes-AMG and a Porsche 911 GT2.
[30][31][32][33][34][35] In March 2017, Runrunes reported that Citgo, a subsidiary of Venezuela's PDVSA, was loaned money to purchase two private aircraft for a total of $119 million.
[37] In November 2018, Andrade was sentenced to ten years in prison by the United States for accepting at least $1 billion in bribes and money laundering, resulting in having his assets seized.
[8] Husband and wife Adrían Velásquez and Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén were arrested in Spain in 2018 for allegedly holding over $4 billion of Venezuelan state funds in Andorra and Seychelles.
[8] Raúl Gorrín, who acquired Venezuelan media company Globovisión and turned it into a pro-Maduro network, was indicted for money laundering and bribery in November 2018.
[8] The scandal known as the Maletinazo also generated criticism in which the government of Chávez was alleged to be sending state oil money from PDVSA to finance the political campaign of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina.
[38] On 12 May 2022, Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén was extradited from Spain to South Florida to face charges of accepting millions in bribes from a billionaire businessman.
