Author: La Tabla/Plataforma de Periodismo de Datos 27 JAN 2026
Jorge Luis Figueira, age 59, is currently facing federal charges in Virginia, USA, as the FBI claims he managed around one billion dollars in money laundering operations. This case caps a lengthy career in questionable financial environments.
His record includes serving as corporate treasurer for Desarrollos MBK C.A., a subsidiary of the Cavendes financial group. In 2001, he, along with bankers Pedro Vallenilla Rodríguez (Vice President) and Luis Vallenilla Meneses (President) of the same company, was investigated for the alleged misappropriation of an 18 million dollar loan granted by BANCOEX for the Margarita Hilton project. The case was dismissed by Venezuelan courts.
This connection links Figueira to high-profile family circles. Pedro Vallenilla Rodríguez is related to political leader María Corina Machado, being co-brothers-in-law (Vallenilla’s wife is the sister of Machado’s husband). Additionally, Vallenilla is the father of Pedro Julio Vallenilla Sosa, recognized as the founder of the popular commercial credit platform Cashea.
Later, as CEO of Nodus International Bank in Puerto Rico, he was at the top of an entity controlled by Venezuelans Tomás Niembro Concha (owner of 60% and President) and Juan Francisco Ramírez (owner of 40%). The bank collapsed in 2023 in a fraud that impacted thousands of savers and resulted in losses of over 90 million dollars. Niembro has been cited in reports as an operator of banker Víctor Vargas Irausquín, owner of the defunct Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD).
In contrast, in December 2017, Figueira signed a donation of $5,000 to the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB). The rector, Francisco Virtuoso, received the funds, aimed at academic and social programs, which were to be managed from the United States by the Andrés Bello Catholic University Foundation.
This donation is now seen as a minor gesture compared to the colossal sums associated with the recent serious legal proceedings against him.