Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Testimony: Another suitcase involved in Maletagate case

The alledged courier in the “Maletagate” money smuggling case testified on Tuesday in a U.S. federal court.

Venezuelan businessman Guido Antonini Wilson (image) claimed in his testimony that he told authorities that a suitcase containing $800,000 cash was not his. Antonini also claimed that another suitcase with $4.2 million had been transported and was allegedly destined for the campaign of current argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

As Bloomberg reported earlier today:

(Defendant Franklin Duran) was arrested with three other South American men on Dec. 11. The others have pleaded guilty and said that the Venezuelan intelligence agency, known as DISIP, played a central role in the cash cover-up. Duran faces as much as 10 years in prison on a charge of being an unregistered agent of Venezuela in the U.S. and five years on a conspiracy charge.

As we mentioned last month, Antonini Wilson is wanted for trial in Argentina and the U.S. government has been accused of stonewalling Antonini Wilson’s extradition.

Image- New York Times

Sources- The Latin Americanist, El Universal, Bloomberg

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