I see that FTI Consulting, the company apparently doing reputation protection for Venezuelan electricity contractor Derwick Associates, has been poking around this website*, my more professional site, and my LinkedIn page. I hope they feel welcome. I see that yesterday someone at FTI read this article:
A Venezuelan securities regulator sits in the dock, charged with demanding a $750,000 (€553,000) bribe from the owner of a brokerage under government receivership. A Florida man stands accused for money laundering after offering accounts to help Venezuelan currency traders move dollars.
What’s most astonishing about these white-collar prosecutions is that they aren’t being pursued by Venezuelan officials with jurisdiction over them. Instead, it’s the United States using its role as the world’s financial hub to expose potentially embarrassing secrets of Hugo Chávez’s régime….
With Caribbean financial havens a close yacht ride from Venezuela’s coast, it may seem odd that financial criminals take their chances with US authorities that may be biased against their country. But as long as the dollar remains the Americas’ universal currency, successful Caracas residents keep fleeing to Florida, and currency controls force people into the black market, US prosecutors will have plenty of Venezuelans to choose from.
FTI has good taste. It’s an interesting story, worth a read. The natural easter eggs story was pretty good too. Check it out.
Setty's notebook 