Page 3 of 3

The most blatant of these was Alejandro Andrade, the former Chavez bodyguard appointed finance minister in 2007, pleaded guilty to corruption on November 19. Court documents examined by Gotham City show how he and his peers trusted Swiss banks to hide money.

HSBC CH 519

Andrade alone had 17 accounts with nine Swiss banks, including HSBC. As Andrade was sentenced to ten years in prison, HSBC’s name was brandished in several media reports accusing banks of aiding him and his ilk of cheating the masses of what was rightfully theirs.