Jury finds Hugo Chavez’s ex-nurse guilty of money laundering
By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) — The former nurse of the late Hugo Chavez has been found guilty of money laundering in connection to bribes paid by a billionaire media mogul to green light lucrative currency transactions when she served as Venezuela’s national treasurer.A jury in south Florida deliberated for just a few hours Tuesday before finding Claudia Diaz and her husband, AdrÃan Velasquez, guilty of five of the six counts detailed in a 2020 indictment accusing them of taking at least $4.2 million in bribes.The couple’s jury trial was seen as a critical test of federal prosecutors’ ability to hold accountable so-called Venezuelan kleptocrats for fleecing the oil rich nation.
