Alejandro Andrade


Alejandro Andrade is a former Venezuelan military officer and politician. A 1987 graduate of the Military Academy of Venezuela, he was appointed as Minister of Finance and President of Banfoandes under the administration of then president Hugo Chávez. Andrade, a member of Venezuela's boliburguesía, currently serves a ten-year sentence for money laundering.

Early life

Alejandro Andrade was born in the parish of Coche, located southwest of Caracas, Venezuela. In 1987, he graduated from the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences and participated in the 1992 coup d'état attempts alongside then revolutionary Hugo Chávez. During the 1998 presidential campaign of Chavez, Andrade acted as his personal bodyguard and secretary. After being elected president, Chávez appointed Andrade to be his private secretary. He had been involved in numerous bureaucratic positions, all related to the finance and economical sectors since then, and until his relocation to the United States.
Living in the United States, Andrade resided in a 9,000 square-foot home on an estate in Wellington, Florida, his largest of multiple properties.

Imprisonment

In December 2017, Andrade pleaded guilty on receiving more than a billion dollars from Raúl Gorrín, president of Globovisión channel, and various others members in exchange of using his position as Minister of Finance to adjudicate transactions in foreign exchange. On Tuesday February 19, 2019 He was sentenced to 10 years in prison due to different money laundering problems with the biggest one being a $2.4 billion money scheme. Andrade turned himself over to authorities in the United States on 25 February 2019.