More Implicated in Cuba Corruption Cases

Fernando Ravsberg*

HAVANA TIMES — Through the Gaceta Oficial legal news periodical, Cuban police have cited the names of three islanders accused of corruption in falsifying banking and commercial documents.

These individuals are Mario Betancourt Caraballoso, Elianet Haya Moran and Ariel Valdes Garcia.

Betancourt is wanted by Interpol after having left the country, with some of his relatives indicating that he now lives in Canada.

His wife, America, was placed under house arrest about two months ago, according to some of her neighbors.

These same sources confirmed that the couple worked in a Cuban bank, and may be linked to a rumored scam of over $5 million USD, which was presumably discovered at the Banco Internacional de Comercio, SA (BICSA).

The nation’s fight against corruption, headed by the Comptroller General of the Republic, Gladys Bejerano, has led to the imprisonment of many Cuban government and foreign businesspeople. However the information about these cases — when they publish it — is sketchy at best.

One of the problems of ensuring transparency in this case could be due to the involvement of some relatives of well-known Cuban personalities.

A “limited edition” of videos of the questioning of some individuals implicated in corrupt activities is circulating among Communist Party members.

In any case, it is hoped that details will be more forthcoming since President Raul Castro gave his word to ensure that “after the court rulings, all of our people will learn in depth about the facts.”