Spain extradited on Thursday May 12 the former head of the Venezuelan National Treasury Office, claimed by the United States for corruption, said a spokesperson for the National Audience.
This high Spanish court responsible in particular for extradition procedures did not provide more details on the procedure.
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According to the American judicial register, Claudia Patricia Diaz, who was also the personal nurse of Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), will appear Friday in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida (southeast).
Claudia Patricia Diaz, who headed the Venezuelan National Treasury from 2011 to 2013, is accused, along with her husband, Adrian Jose Velasquez Figueroa, of having participated in a vast scheme of corruption, which went through exchange offices, having allowed embezzlement of $2.4 billion, according to the US Treasury.
This system also implicated another former Venezuelan government official, Alejandro Andrade Cedeno, National Treasurer between 2007 and 2010. He was already sentenced in November 2018 in the United States to 10 years in prison for corruption and money laundering relating to over a billion dollars.
It involved diverting funds through exchange offices which, under the authority of the Venezuelan Treasury, exchanged dollars for bolivars at a rate higher than the official rate.
Strict exchange controls had been in place in the country since 2003, instituted by leftist President Hugo Chavez.
The Venezuelan, who lived in Madrid, was until now under house arrest in Spain.
Claudia Patricia Diaz and her husband were first arrested in Spain in 2018 at the request of Caracas, after appearing in the Panama Papers scandal.
In December 2020 they were again arrested at the request of American justice.
