Victor Mones Coro, Sanctions Violation, Florida 2023

Florida Man Sentenced to 55 Months in Prison for Violating Sanctions Against Senior Venezuelan Leaders

A Florida man was sentenced to 55 months in prison for his connection with a scheme to provide private charter flights to two prominent members of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's inner circle.

Victor Mones Coro, 52, of Florida was convicted by a federal jury for his involvement in a scheme to provide private charter flights to two prominent members of Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's inner circle: Former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah and his frontman, Samark Jose Lopez Bello.

These flight services violated sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

Victor Mones Coro used subterfuge and lies to provide illegal flight services to top Venezuelan leaders, which provided political support for the unlawful Maduro regime.

He will also pay $250,000 in fines and undergo two years of supervised release as part of the sentence.

According to court documents, Mones Coro designed an elaborate criminal scheme to enrich himself and provide flight services to El Aissami and Lopez Bello, among other influential Venezuelans in Maduro's inner circle, including the President of Venezuela's Supreme Court, Maikel Moreno, who had also been previously sanctioned by OFAC.

Mones Coro also provided flights in furtherance of Maduro's May 2018 campaign for reelection, a corrupt campaign through which Maduro illegitimately maintained control of Venezuela.

Between approximately February and May 2018, Mones Coro and ACS arranged between 20 to 25 domestic Venezuelan flights for the Maduro campaign.

To avoid detection, Mones Coro and his co-conspirators, including Joselit Ramírez Camacho, Venezuela's current Superintendent of Cryptocurrencies, engaged in various forms of subterfuge and deception.

Mones Coro led a concerted, sustained multi-year scheme to provide millions of dollars' worth of illicit flight services to Venezuelan leaders in direct contravention of our country's sanctions regime and foreign policy.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/man-sentenced-55-months-prison-violating-sanctions-against-senior-venezuelan-leaders