Former Pdvsa employee accused of receiving bribes from ex Pdvsa adviser

The financial network created by Venezuelan former financial advisor Francisco Illarramendi to conceal a fraud to several investors, among them the pension fund of state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, included the payment of bribes and "kickbacks" to several people in Venezuela.

John J. Carney, the court-appointed receiver responsible for unwinding Francisco Illarramendi's Michael Kenwood Group, the asset management companies at the center of the Ponzi scheme, has filed a suit in the US Federal Court in Connecticut against former Pdvsa investment manager Juan S. Montes and the phone-based banking company Movilway for the return of bribes totaling more than USD 35.7 million.

According to court documents, Francisco Illarramendi paid directly or indirectly USD 35,744,651 to Juan Montes, "a senior Pdvsa pension fund investment manager," in exchange for his approval of certain bond-swap transactions with money from the pension fund of state-run oil company Pdvsa.

According to the lawsuit, "in an attempt to conceal the true nature of the bribes to Montes, Illarramendi falsely described these payments variously as investments or payments for professional fees."

Along with this, Illarramendi transferred USD 5,080,161 to Movilway. This transfer "represented a kickback to Montes made with money misappropriated from Michael Kenwood Group and High View Point Partners. The defendants benefitted, either directly or indirectly, from the fraudulent transfers," the court document says.