Hugo Chavez's ex-nurse-turned treasurer, Claudia Diaz, extradited to US
Source: Associated Press
Hugo Chavez’s ex-nurse-turned treasurer extradited to US
By CODY JACKSON and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON
May 13, 2022
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Venezuelan woman who rose from being the late President Hugo Chávez’s nurse to the nation’s treasurer has been extradited from Spain to the U.S. to face money-laundering charges.
Federal prosecutors in South Florida are accusing Claudia Díaz, 48, of taking bribes from a billionaire media mogul to greenlight lucrative currency transactions when she served as Venezuela’s treasurer a decade ago.
Shackled and dressed in a dark blue jail jumpsuit, Díaz appeared before Judge William Matthewman in West Palm Beach’s federal courthouse on Friday. She did not speak, and her attorney Marissel Descalzo said she had no comment. A bond hearing is set for Tuesday.
Spain’s National Court approved Díaz’s extradition in October despite her attempts to block it with the argument that she could respond to the charges in Spain, where an investigation also has been conducted. The court there decided the allegations were different and that the U.S. investigation was much broader.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-florida-spain-82471efb7b51943af28be2f2aba45db0
FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018 file photo, Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen, the nurse of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, leaves the national court in Madrid, Spain. The Venezuelan woman who rose from being the late President Hugo Chávez's nurse to the nation's treasurer has been extradited from Spain to the U.S. to face money-laundering charges. Federal prosecutors in South Florida are accusing Claudia Díaz, 48, of taking bribes from a billionaire media mogul to greenlight lucrative currency transactions when she served as Venezuela's treasurer a decade ago. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)
