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Maikel Moreno

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Maikel Moreno
President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela
In office
24 February 2017 – 27 April 2022
Preceded byGladys Gutiérrez
Succeeded byGladys Gutiérrez
Vice President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela
In office
11 February 2015 – 24 February 2017
Personal details
Born
Maikel José Moreno Pérez

(1965-12-12) December 12, 1965 (age 58)
El Tigre, Anzoátegui, Venezuela
SpouseDebora Menicucci
Children1
Alma materUniversidad Santa María
Criminal penalty
Date apprehended
Most Wanted Fugitive

Maikel José Moreno Pérez (born 12 December 1965) is a lawyer, doctor of Venezuelan constitutional law, and judge who previously serves as president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela from 2017 until 2022.

Moreno is currently a fugitive as part of an investigation by the HSI of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He is the prime suspect and was charged in the United States for crimes against the U.S., money laundering, and engaging in shady financial transactions in property.[1] ICE has publicly announced a $5 million reward for his arrest.[2] Previously, Moreno was incarcerated for murder.

Career and education

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DISIP and criminal record

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Moreno began his career serving Venezuela by joining the DISIP (now the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). In 1987, Moreno was indicted for murder in Ciudad Bolívar and imprisoned for two years before being released.[3][4][5]

In 1989, he began to work with DISIP once more, serving as a bodyguard for President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Later that year in Caracas, Moreno was allegedly involved in the murder of 19-year-old Rubén Gil Márquez during a brawl in Parque Central. A year later in 1990, Moreno was released due to his connections to DISIP.[3][4][5][6]

Education

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Shortly after being released, Moreno attended Universidad Santa María and graduated from their law program in 1995. At this time it is believed that Moreno became acquainted with future First Lady of Venezuela and wife of Nicolás Maduro, Cilia Flores.[6] He would later return to the university and earn a doctorate in Venezuelan law in 2014.

Judge

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Under the Hugo Chávez administration, Moreno served as a lower-level judge. Following the 2002 attempted coup d'état that nearly overthrew Chávez, Moreno prosecuted many government opponents between 2002 and 2005. He prosecuted law enforcement leader Iván Simonovis, accusing him of leading the violent acts of the coup attempt which eventually led to the imprisonment of Simonovis.[3][4]

Moreno also defended in court many of the chavistas involved in the Llaguno Overpass events who fired upon opposition protesters. He also took cases against opposition individuals who were accused of being involved in the murder of Danilo Anderson.[3][4]

Supreme Tribunal Justice

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Moreno (left) with President Nicolás Maduro during his second inauguration

On 28 December 2014, he was sworn in as magistrate of the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice by the National Assembly, ratifying the sentence against Leopoldo López during his term. He was also the first vice-president of the Supreme Court and president of the criminal cassation chamber in the plenary session in 2015. He currently holds the presidency of the Supreme Court.[5]

Sanctions

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Moreno has been sanctioned by several countries and is banned from entering neighboring Colombia. The Colombian government maintains a list of people banned from entering Colombia or subject to expulsion; as of January 2019, the list had 200 people with a "close relationship and support for the Nicolás Maduro regime".[7][8]

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Moreno and seven members of the Venezuelan Supreme Justice Tribunal (TSJ) in May 2017 for usurping the functions of the Venezuelan National Assembly and permitting Maduro to govern by decree.[9] The U.S. assets of the eight individuals were frozen, and U.S. persons prohibited from doing business with them.[10]

Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelan officials, including Moreno, in September 2017.[11][12] The sanctions were for behaviors that undermined democracy after at least 125 people will killed in the 2017 Venezuelan protests and "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship".[11] Canadians were banned from transactions with the 40 individuals, whose Canadian assets were frozen.[11]

The European Union sanctioned seven Venezuela officials, including Moreno, on 18 January 2018, singling them out as being responsible for deteriorating democracy in the country.[13] The sanctioned individuals were prohibited from entering the nations of the European Union, and their assets were frozen.[14]

In March 2018, Panama sanctioned 55 public officials, including Moreno,[15] and Switzerland implemented sanctions, freezing the assets of seven ministers and high officials, including Moreno, due to human rights violations and deteriorating rule of law and democracy.[16]

On 20 April 2018, the Mexican Senate froze the assets of officials of the Maduro administration, including Moreno, and prohibited them from entering Mexico.[17]

On 21 July 2020, the United States imposed sanctions on Moreno and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.[18]

Investigations

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On 6 April 2023, Italy confiscated a mansion owned by Maikel Moreno, registered in the name of his wife Debora Menicucci, with a value equivalent to 6 million dollars, as the result of an investigation by the Guardia di Finanza on an alleged case of money laundering in the purchase of the villa.[19][20][21]

Personal life

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In September 2020 he announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Former President of Venezuelan Supreme Court Indicted on Charges of Accepting Bribes to Resolve Court Cases". justice.gov. U.S. Department of Justice. 26 January 2023.
  2. ^ "$5M reward offered for information leading to arrest". ICE. 25 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Flamante magistrado venezolano en el Tribunal Supremo tiene largo prontuario policial". Diario Las Américas (in Spanish). 1 January 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Vidal, Brian (24 February 2017). "Vea la hoja de vida de Mikel Moreno, el posible presidente del TSJ - El Impulso". El Impulso (in European Spanish). Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "¡ATENCIÓN! Vea quién es el nuevo presidente del TSJ - NotiTotal". NotiTotal (in European Spanish). 24 February 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Desentierran oscuro pasado del ilegítimo presidente del TSJ chavista: corrupción, extorsión y asesinato". PanAm Post (in European Spanish). 16 November 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Maduro encabeza lista de 200 venezolanos que no pueden entrar al país" [Maduro tops list of 200 Venezuelans who can not enter the country]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 30 January 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Primera parte de lista de colaboradores de Maduro que no pueden ingresar a Colombia" [First part of list of Maduro collaborators who can not enter Colombia] (in Spanish). RCN Radio. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Estados Unidos impone sanciones a 8 magistrados del Tribunal Supremo de Venezuela a los que acusa de usurpar las funciones del Parlamento" (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Treasury sanctions eight members of Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "Canada imposes sanctions on key Venezuelan officials". CBC Canada. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  12. ^ Zilio, Michelle (22 September 2017). "Canada sanctions 40 Venezuelans with links to political, economic crisis". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 April 2019. Also at Punto de Corte Archived 2019-04-04 at the Wayback Machine and El Nacional
  13. ^ "Quiénes son los 7 funcionarios de Venezuela sancionados por la Unión Europea y de qué se les acusa". BBC Mundo (in Spanish). 22 January 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  14. ^ "EU imposes sanctions on 7 senior Venezuelan officials". Associated Press. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  15. ^ "Los 55 funcionarios sancionados por Panamá por 'blanqueo de capitales'". El Nacional (in Spanish). 30 March 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019. Also at Panama Economic and Finance Ministry Archived 2019-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Swiss impose sanctions on seven senior Venezuelan officials". Reuters. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019. Also at Diario Las Americas
  17. ^ "México rechaza elecciones en Venezuela y sanciona a siete funcionarios". Sumarium group (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 April 2018.[permanent dead link‍] Also at VPITV
  18. ^ "U.S. seeking arrest of Venezuela chief justice, offers reward for info". July 21, 2020 – via www.reuters.com.
  19. ^ "Fiscalía italiana decomisa mansión a Maikel Moreno por presunto blanqueo de capitales". El Estímulo. 2023-04-06.
  20. ^ "Italia incautó una mansión de Maikel Moreno, ex presidente del Tribunal Supremo de Venezuela". Infobae. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  21. ^ "Confiscaron mansión de Maikel Moreno y su esposa en Toscana, según medio italiano". NTN24.
  22. ^ "Magistrado Maikel Moreno informa que fue diagnosticado con Covid-19" (in Spanish). MINCI. 6 September 2020.
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