The pending criminal investigation, by US law enforcement, of a number of prominent Venezuelan banks, now includes one foreign-owned financial institution, according to a reliable source who has consistently delivered accurate information on banking investigations in the past. Since many foreign banks have subsidiaries, branches, agencies or representative offices in the United States, any regulatory, civil or criminal sanctions imposed would seriously impact those onshore entities, many of which have substantial assets that could be seized and forfeited. If you have been following the Colombian government's disclosure of evidence that clearly proves that the Chavez government has funded the FARC, a designated terrorist organisation, for several years, both the guilty domestic Venezuelan and foreign bankers have cause to worry, because terrorist financing charges, brought in the US, will result in extremely long sentences of imprisonment for those unlucky bankers who will be indicted. One wonders whether President Chavez himself will be indicted, a la Noriega, on terrorism charges, since he has been sleeping with the FARC since before his 1992 failed coup d'etat.

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