UNA DE LAS MÚLTIPLES PUBLICACIONES EMITIDAS A TRAVÉS DE UNA AGENCIA DE RELACIONES PUBLICAS EN WASHINGTON D.C (english)
AMONG THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE MIAMI LAWSUIT: TOP EXECUTIVES SIPHONED MONEY OUT OF VENEZUELAN PENSION FUNDS INTO THEIR OWN COMPANIES; THEY EXTENDED UNLAWFUL LOANS TO BANK INSIDERS THROUGH THE BANCO LATINO INTERNATIONAL SUBSIDIARY IN MIAMI. THE ILLEGAL TRANSACTIONS INVOLVED AT LEAST $977 MILLION, ACCORDING TO THE SUIT.
The Miami Herald
TUE June 20, 1995
By: JANE BUSSEY – Section: BUSINESS Page: 1C
BANCO LATINO EXECS ENGAGED IN MASSIVE FRAUD LAWSUIT SCHEMING BROUGHT DOWN BANK
Dozens of top executives at Banco Latino of Venezuela engaged in fraud, insider loans and pyramid schemes that caused the country’s second- largest bank to collapse, Banco Latino charged in a federal civil lawsuit filed Monday in Miami.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, Alleged that 33 people And 100 «John Does» devised schemes to enrich themselves while the banking Company was failing. Some of those executives have homes in South Florida. Banco Latino now is owned by the Venezuelan government, which bailed out the bank after its failure in January 1994.
Among the allegations in the Miami lawsuit: top executives siphoned money out of Venezuelan pension funds into their own companies; they extended unlawful loans to bank insiders through the Banco Latino International subsidiary in Miami.
The illegal transactions involved at least $977 million, According to the suit. Lawyers representing Banco Latino say some of the money was laundered through South Florida and invested in Florida and Georgia real estate.
«The excesses are way worse than Anything the United States ever saw,» Said Eugene Propper, a Washington, D.C. attorney who filed the lawsuit. /
Among those named in the civil suit: Gustavo Gomez Lopez, former chairman of Banco Latino and his wife Claudia…