Venezuela’s chief prosecutor ordered the arrest Friday of a former Green Beret and two opposition figures living in the United States for their purported role in a botched operation aimed at removing Nicolás Maduro from power.
Tarek William Saab said Venezuela will seek the capture of Jordan Goudreau, a military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as Juan José Rendón and Sergio Vergara, two U.S.-based advisers to opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
“They are living in impunity,” Saab said. “In tranquility over there.”
In this photo released by Venezuela's Ministry of Communication, Jorge Rodriguez shows a video of American Airon Berry, a former U.S. special forces soldier associated with the Florida-based private security firm Silvercorp USA, during a televised statement in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday , May 7, 2020. Three Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are demanding answers from the Trump administration about how much it knew about an attempted raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, an operation they said potentially violated U.S. law and ran counter to American support for negotiations to end the country's political standoff. (Venezuela's Ministry of Communication press office via AP)
U.S. law enforcement is investigating Goudreau, though it remains unclear if he will charged. President Donald Trump does not recognize Maduro’s government, making it highly unlikely that his administration would accept any extradition request.
The Trump administration has denied all responsibility in the armed raid, which resulted in the arrests of two Americans, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were purportedly hired by Goudreau’s private firm to participate in the failed assault.
In an interview with Fox News Channel Friday, Trump said he “didn’t know too much” about the attack and again denied any U.S. government involvement.
“It wasn’t led by Gen. George Washington, obviously,” he said. “This was not a good attack.”
Venezuelan authorities have been insisting that Trump’s government was behind the plot, with Saab noting Friday that the U.S. had previously offered a $15 million bounty for Maduro’s arrest, which he said opened the door for such attacks.
“That gives a green light for an incursion into our territory,” he said.
Denman and Berry are both former U.S. special forces soldiers who served in Iraq. In video statements aired on Venezuela’s state television, both said they’d been hired by Goudreau to train rebel troops in Colombia and target Maduro. Goiudreau also has said they were part of his operation.
Rendón has acknowledged giving Goudreau $50,000 to cover some expenses and said that he and Vergara signed an agreement with the three-time Bronze Star recipient. Meanwhile, Goudreau has presented what said is an audio recording made on a hidden cellphone in which Guaidó can be heard briefly greeting the combat vet via video conference.
The opposition leader recognized by the U.S. and about 60 other nations has Venezuela’s rightful president has denied any involvement in the operation.
Saab said Venezuela is issuing 22 new arrest orders and did not mention Guaidó among them.
A third man has been detained in a bribery case involving one of Russia's most senior defense officials, Moscow's court service said Thursday.
It said businessman Alexander Fomin is suspected of paying bribes to Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was detained on Wednesday, as well as Ivanov's associate, Sergei Borodin. All of the men are to remain in custody until at least June 23.
It is rare for such a high-ranking official to be accused of a crime in Russia. Ivanov, an ally of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, was jailed pending an investigation and trial on charges of bribery, court officials said in a statement. He was in charge of military construction projects and was previously accused of living a lavish lifestyle in anti-corruption investigations conducted by the team of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It is unclear what sparked the decision to charge him with bribery.
Ivanov, 48, was sanctioned by both the United States and European Union in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Wednesday that the construction projects that were overseen by Ivanov will continue.
Moscow's court service said Fomin and Borodin contributed to Ivanov receiving a “particularly large bribe" — an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. As part of the case against Fomin and the deputy minister, the courts service added that Fomin did not pay for goods, work and services related to repairing and reconstructing buildings.
Russian state news agency Tass reported Wednesday that a Moscow businessman whose company is involved in construction gave testimony which incriminated the deputy defense minister. Tass did not name the individual who gave the evidence, but public records and Russian newspapers say that Alexander Fomin owns half of the company, called Olimpsitistroy.
In 2021, Ivanov awarded Fomin and the co-owner of Olimpsitistroy a state award called For Merit to the Fatherland for building medical centers, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
According to a court statement Wednesday, investigators told the judge that Ivanov conspired with third parties to receive a bribe in the form of unspecified property services “during contracting and subcontracting work for the needs of the Ministry of Defense.”
Ivanov’s lawyer, Murad Musayev, told the state news agency Tass on Wednesday that his client is accused of “taking a bribe in the form of free construction and repair work on supposedly his personal properties,” and in turn providing “assistance to companies that were contractors for the Defense Ministry.”
Another lawyer, Denis Baluyev, was quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti as saying Wednesday that Ivanov maintains his innocence.
According to the Defense Ministry’s website, Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects.
RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin were informed of Ivanov’s arrest, which comes as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds through its third year.
Independent Russian news outlets reported Wednesday that the bribery charges were intended to hide more serious charges of treason and avoid scandal, citing two unidentified sources close to the Federal Security Service, or FSB.
Peskov dismissed the suggestion and described the reports as speculation. “There are a lot of rumors. We need to rely on official information,” he told journalists.
Musayev, Ivanov’s lawyer, also denied any other charges, telling RIA Novosti Ivanov faced only bribery allegations.
Before his arrest, Ivanov was seen attending a meeting with Shoigu and other top military brass. The move against Ivanov came nearly a month after Putin called on the FSB to “keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort” and pay special attention to state defense procurement.
Russian media reported that Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war.
Zvezda, the official TV channel of the Russian military, reported in summer 2022 that the ministry was building an entire residential block in Mariupol and showed Ivanov inspecting construction sites and newly erected buildings.
That same year, the team of opposition leader Navalny alleged Ivanov and his family had been enjoying luxurious trips abroad, lavish parties and owned elite real estate. The activists also alleged that Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana, divorced him in 2022 to avoid sanctions and continued living a lavish lifestyle.
Few high-level officials have been prosecuted in Russia.
In April 2023, former Deputy Culture Minister Olga Yarilova was arrested and charged with embezzling more than 200 million rubles ($2.2 million). Yarilova, who held her post from 2018 to 2022, is on trial and facing a possible seven-year jail term.
Former Economics Minister Alexei Ulyukayev received an eight-year prison sentence in 2017 for accepting a $2 million bribe from one of Putin’s top associates. The high-profile trial was widely seen as part of infighting between Kremlin clans. Ulyukayev, now 68, was granted early release from prison in May 2022.
This photo taken and released by Basmanny District Court press service on Thursday, April 25, 2024, shows businessman Alexander Fomin standing in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia. Moscow's court service says a third man has been detained in a major bribery case involving a Russian deputy defense minister. It says businessman Alexander Fomin is suspected of paying bribes to Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov as well as Ivanov's associate, (Basmanny District Court press service via AP)
This photo taken from video released by Basmanny District Court press service on Thursday, April 25, 2024, shows businessman Alexander Fomin standing in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia. Moscow's court service says a third man has been detained in a major bribery case involving a Russian deputy defense minister. It says businessman Alexander Fomin is suspected of paying bribes to Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov as well as Ivanov's associate, (Basmanny District Court press service via AP)
This photo taken and released by Basmanny District Court press service on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, shows Sergei Borodin sitting in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia. An acquaintance of Timur Ivanov, 48, one of Russia’s 12 deputy defense ministers, idenfitied as Sergei Borodin was also arrested and ordered into pre-trial detention on the same charges, court officials said in a separate statement. Both men are to remain in custody until at least June 23. (Basmanny District Court press service via AP)
This photo taken and released by Basmanny District Court press service on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, shows Timur Ivanov, Russian deputy Defense Minister, standing in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia. Russia. Ivanov, a top Russian military official, was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe, The Investigative Committee, Russia's top law enforcement agency, reported Ivanov's detention on Tuesday without offering any details of the accusations against him, saying only that he is suspected of taking an especially large bribe. (Basmanny District Court press service via AP)
Third man is detained in a major bribery case that involves Russia's deputy defense minister
Third man is detained in a major bribery case that involves Russia's deputy defense minister
This handout photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, Jan 11, 2024, shows Timur Ivanov, deputy defense minister, in Moscow. Ivanov, a top Russian military official was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe, authorities said Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Ivanov, one of Russia's 12 deputy defense ministers, was sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
