By Sam Souto
The former Minister of Planning and Development of Venezuela, Haiman El Troudi Douwara, alongside Venezuelan lawyer Argenis Manuel Azuaje Domínguez, has been accused of attempting to extort businessman Domingo Amaro Rangel, with whom El Troudi’s family has had previous business dealings.
Connections to Odebrecht and the Troudi Family
Haiman El Troudi has been implicated in receiving bribes from Odebrecht during his tenure in public office within the transportation sector from 2010 to 2015. It is alleged that payments were altered for projects like the Caracas-Guarenas-Guatire Metro, Line 5 of the Caracas Metro, Line 2 of Los Teques Metro, and the Mariche-La Dolorita Metrocable.
Odebrecht’s involvement in Venezuela resulted in millions of dollars being tied up, unfinished projects, alleged kickbacks for contracts, impunity, and a conspicuous silence from authorities who, to this day, have not initiated any investigations to determine accountability in this matter.
El Troudi’s wife and mother-in-law, María Eugenia Baptista Zacarías and Elita Del Valle Zacarías Díaz, respectively, have also been mentioned in the corruption scandals surrounding him. In 2017, Switzerland froze over $40 million linked to them and sent the evidence to Venezuelan authorities. However, a court dismissed the investigation, ruling any measures against them and El Troudi to be null and unwarranted.
Furthermore, a journalistic investigation unveiled that El Troudi’s in-laws purchased three luxury apartments in Paris between 2012 and 2016, totaling 5.5 million euros. These acquisitions were made through two newly created companies in the names of El Troudi’s mother-in-law and his brother-in-law, Pedro Donaciano Baptista Zacarías.
The Deal with Domingo Amaro Rangel
One of the apartments acquired by El Troudi’s family in France was transferred by a Venezuelan entrepreneur involved in the transaction. This individual is Domingo Amaro Rangel, who has been associated with over 30 companies based in Venezuela and Panama since the year 2000.
Domingo Amaro Rangel has been a board member of the company Fondo de Valores Inmobiliarios, which specializes in managing and advising on financial and real estate assets, founded by entrepreneur Luis Emilio Velutini. He is also a shareholder and president of the Venezuelan insurance company Seguros Altamira.
According to the Panama Papers, Domingo Amaro Rangel has been a partner of Samuel Levy Duer and Mauricio Andarcia in the Panamanian companies VALORALTA S.A., TRILOGY INVESTMENTS GROUP S.A., and the registered foundation in Panama VALORALTA FOUNDATION.
Amaro Rangel assigned the purchase option to El Troudi’s relatives through a “substitution clause” as Zacarías Díaz “urgently needed a place for a family member requiring medical treatment in Paris.” This has led to the assumption that the recent extortion attempt by El Troudi against Domingo Amaro Rangel is linked to past business dealings with the Troudi family.
Allegations Against Lawyer Argenis Azuaje Domínguez
Argenis Manuel Azuaje Domínguez is a 41-year-old Venezuelan lawyer, reportedly tied to allegations regarding the case of American Nichols Orsini, who was a pilot for former Chavista minister Tareck El Aissami. According to information circulating on social media, during the cooperation of the American pilot with federal authorities for violating U.S. sanctions while transporting the Venezuelan oil minister, Tareck El Aissami, the lawyer Azuaje Domínguez was covertly interrogated, being then a partner in an insurance company and linked to Colombian businessman Alex Saab.
Azuaje Domínguez served over a decade ago as Vice President for Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the intervened and liquidated Banorte Bank, presuming him to be one of those responsible for the internal financial irregularities that led to Banorte’s intervention by Venezuela’s Banking Superintendency (SUDEBAN).
Argenis Manuel Azuaje Domínguez is also a shareholder in Kairos de Reaseguros, C.A., a company based in El Rosal, Caracas, which was authorized to operate in Venezuela in 2017.
Azuaje has also been accused of being one of many who fraudulently exploited Venezuela’s preferential currencies from the National Commission for the Administration of Foreign Exchange (CADIVI) for fictitious imports. He has also been linked to overpriced sales to Pdvsa.
Recently, El Troudi and Azuaje have been accused on social media of planning and allegedly executing a defamation campaign aimed at associating businessman Domingo Amaro with General González López, director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). Some public allegations claim the campaign was meant to harm Domingo Amaro’s reputation and business interests.