Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office takes legal action against Alex Saab's company

Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office takes legal action against Alex Saab's company

The Attorney General's Office of Ecuador has taken legal action against one of Alex Saab's companies, as indicated in the press release titled "Attorney General's Office manages to block $57 million from alleged money laundering": The Attorney General's Office has initiated three separate investigations into the alleged illicit operations, linked to the crime of money laundering, by the companies Pifo Garden,  Fondo Global de Construcción  and Escastel.

These actions allowed the blocking, in favor of the State, of 57 million dollars in cash, and two million in goods and real estate, which were in the possession of the companies under investigation.

The irregularities were detected after the Central Bank of Ecuador revealed that these companies, operating within the framework of the Regional Compensation System for Payments (SUCRE), were registering foreign trade transactions with Venezuela, but with fictitious and overvalued exports. In this way, they were able to receive large sums of money which they then diverted to tax havens.

Another report published by the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office, titled "Foglocons Case: Judge orders pretrial detention for two people for alleged money laundering," details the illicit activities in which the company Fondo Global de Construcción in Ecuador is allegedly involved:

The company Fondo Global de Construcción SA (FOGLOCONS), established in Ecuador in September 2012,  received transfers of $159.9 million between December 2012 and March 2013 through the SUCRE system.

However, the report from the National Customs Service states that what the company exported and what it received from this economic transaction  would only justify $3.1 million of the total received through transfers.

“ Since there were no exports and volumes exceeding $159 million were received, the origin of this asset is illegal. Shell companies have been established, and corporate, economic, commercial, and foreign trade operations have been simulated; that is, fictitious and overvalued exports of goods from Ecuador to Venezuela,” emphasized Prosecutor Jaramillo.

It was also detailed during the arraignment hearing that invoices were cloned in Ecuador to justify both the purchase of foreign currency in Venezuela and the illicit transactions. Thus, the invoices presented to Ecuadorian Customs “do not reflect either the business or the value shown on those same invoices in Venezuela.”

Once this company receives the money, it begins the phase known as "placement" through payments to fake suppliers and clients, which allow the money to leave Ecuador through transfers of: 232,000; 10,000,000, 21,000,000, 4,000,000, 9,000,000 dollars, the Prosecutor explained.

Both Alex Saab and his lawyers have stated that there is no relationship or connection whatsoever between FOGLOCONS Ecuador and other companies with the same name registered in Venezuela and Colombia. Saab and his lawyers base their argument on the fact that Saab's name does not appear in FOGLOCONS's registration documents in Ecuador. Now that the Ecuadorian Attorney General's Office has initiated legal action against FOGLOCONS in that country for exports to Venezuela, the question arises: is Alex Saab connected to this company in Ecuador or not?

The Ecuadorian Attorney General's Office has clearly stated that fictitious exports from FOGLOCONS totaling $159 million were destined for Venezuela. In Venezuela, Saab is the representative of Fondo Global de Construcción de Colombia, a company registered on November 24, 2011. Just four days later, on November 28, 2011, Saab appeared at a bilateral meeting between Venezuela and Colombia: …within the framework of the bilateral agreement signed by Santos and Chávez, Fondo Global de Construcción de Venezuela was contracted by the Ministry of Light Industries and Commerce to supply 25,000 prefabricated housing kits for $475 million. In the first phase of this agreement, Fondo Global de Construcción companies in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador (countries where Saab maintains subsidiaries with similar names) would participate. The second phase of the agreement between FOGLOCONS Colombia and Venezuela (through the Ministry of Housing and Habitat) stipulates the construction of 25,000 homes, with a reported cost to date of approximately $210 million. The third phase involves the production of building materials in Venezuela through the construction of factories. Phase four includes training, and phase five focuses on marketing. Additionally, the Vargas state government has awarded other contracts—the budgets of which are unknown—to Fondo Global de Construcción Venezuela to build a shopping center, a baseball stadium, and a sports arena.

In Venezuela, there is another company called Fondo Global de Construcción (Global Construction Fund). The Venezuelan National Registry of Contractors identifies FGDC LATAM 2012, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, of Spain, as the owner of 100% of the shares. This Spanish company is, in turn, owned by FGDC Malta Holdings, a company registered in Malta belonging to Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas, a business partner of Alex Saab. Unfortunately for Saab's credibility, the Ecuadorian press has already reported the identities of the two individuals identified by the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office for the crime of money laundering: Judge Álex Silva of the Northern Criminal Judicial Unit No. 1 of Guayaquil ordered the pretrial detention of two foreign nationals for alleged irregular foreign trade operations between Ecuador and Venezuela, which would constitute the crime of money laundering.

The precautionary measure was requested yesterday by prosecutor José Luis Jaramillo during the arraignment hearing against  Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez , a Venezuelan national, and  Enrique Pulido Vargas , a Colombian national. According to the prosecutor, both are listed as shareholders of the company Fondo Global de Construcción SA (Fodocons SA), incorporated in Ecuador in September 2012. The company allegedly received transfers totaling $159.9 million between December 2012 and March 2013 through the Regional Compensation System (SUCRE).

Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez is the representative of a couple of companies registered in Spain related to Saab.

Apart from that, the National Registry of Contractors of Venezuela identifies the following among the "Members of the Board of Directors and Legal Representatives" of Fondo Global de Construcción:

– Miguel Angel Medina Acosta , Executive Director (ID V-8965342);

–  Menahem Michel Edery , President Director (ID E-82013466).

Menahem Michel Edery, in turn, owns 25% of the shares of a company called THERMO GROUP, which acts as an intermediary for imports between the Global Construction Fund in Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela. According to the list of foreign currency settled with importing companies published by CADIVI, THERMO GROUP has received a total of $256,697,100. In summary:

1) The two defendants charged by the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office (Sánchez Yánez and Pulido Vargas) are partners and representatives of Alex Saab;

2) The director of Fondo Global de Construcción de Venezuela (Edery) is a partner in an intermediary company (THERMO GROUP) that has requested and received foreign currency to pay for imports to Fondo Global de Construcción in Peru and Ecuador.

These are irrefutable proofs that there is a connection between Saab and the companies called Global Construction Fund in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.

After the ludicrous claims made by  Saab's Colombian  and  Venezuelan lawyers  , and his refusal to answer my questions about his operations in writing, we can only hope that the authorities will determine responsibility in this case. What is certain is that Saab's companies did not participate in any bidding processes in Venezuela: all contracts were awarded directly, as is typical of the Chavista regime.

INFODIO readers are an inexhaustible source of information, and I extend my sincerest thanks for sending me everything you send (please keep it up). It turns out that Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez (Venezuelan ID 11.510.134), Alex Saab's partner in Fondo Global de Construcción in Ecuador, against whom an arrest warrant issued by the Attorney General of the State is pending, is the brother of Jaime Francisco Sánchez Yánez (Venezuelan ID 12.360.405), a Venezuelan-Ecuadorian thug who serves as a special advisor to none other than the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. This new individual, who seems to carry up to five passports, enjoys threatening the press and appears as "Advisor 3" to the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Interior.

But that's not the worst part; after all, the Sánchez Yánez brothers have a Venezuelan mother. The worst part is that one of Alex Saab's brothers has already received Venezuelan citizenship from the Chavista regime. On what grounds does this individual have Venezuelan citizenship? Another case like that of the terrorist Rodrigo Granda ?

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