The legal battle over the control of a Miami bank alleged to have been secretly run by the Venezuelan government is heating up, following the efforts of its original owner to take back the reins of the bank’s Curaçao-based parent company.
The original owner, Venezuelan-American businessman Juan Santaella, had previously sued members of Eastern National Bank’s board of directors, including Gabina Rodríguez, who chaired the board between 2015 and 2021. The suit claims that she assumed control of ENB after she was appointed by the Venezuela government in 2009 as the intervenor of the bank’s parent companies, Venezuelan registered Corpofin and Curaçao registered Mercorp.
The lawsuit filed in January in a South Florida federal court alleges that the small Miami bank has been under the control of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro through Rodriguez, and that the Caracas socialist regime used it to evade the U.S. sanctions.
