MIAMI _ Whenever Venezuelan media mogul Raul Gorrin flew to Miami _ before he was accused by the feds of stealing billions from his own government _ he would stay at his waterfront estate in Cocoplum and tool around town in his Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe.
Now federal prosecutors want to take both from him _ the 6,000-square-foot home, which had been on the market for $8 million, and the $200,000 Rolls convertible _ along with 20 other real estate properties worth tens of millions of dollars in the Miami area and Manhattan.
While a criminal case seeking to forfeit Gorrin's vast real estate portfolio is pretty straightforward _ after all, houses, condos and apartments can't go anywhere _ a related civil case targeting his Rolls-Royce has been full of twists and turns.
Gorrin, who last visited Miami in November 2017, was charged the following year with bribing Venezuela's national treasurer, Alejandro Andrade, to gain access to the government's favorable currency-exchange system during the administrations of the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, according to a federal indictment. The scheme, fueled by Venezuela's oil revenue, produced billions of dollars in ill-gotten profits for the TV network magnate, who transferred the tainted money to bank accounts in Switzerland, South Florida and New York for himself and Andrade, the federal indictment says.
Andrade pleaded guilty in the corruption and money-laundering case, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and paid about $300 million in cash and other assets to the U.S. government _ but Gorrin has been designated a fugitive.
Then last September, prosecutors sued four luxury vehicles that belonged to Gorrin in a related civil case: the 2012 Rolls-Royce, a 2016 Ferrari FF, a 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe, and a 2014 Maserati Quattroporte. Gorrin himself was not sued. U.S. District Judge Robert Scola granted an arrest warrant for his high-end cars.
All but the Rolls-Royce proved to be elusive.
Soon after his criminal case became public in late 2018, Gorrin obtained a "false" Florida driver's license in his name to acquire duplicate certificates of title for the Rolls-Royce, Porsche and Maserati, according to a federal civil complaint. His applications indicated that the original titles had been lost.
For the Ferrari, there was no driver's license on file, but the application for a duplicate certificate of title also said the original was "lost" and was signed "RG," purportedly by "Raul A. Gorrin," the complaint says.
But agents with Homeland Security Investigations learned that Gorrin's Florida's driver's license "did not exist," according to the complaint. Agents checked a state motor vehicle and driver's license database and found "no Florida driver's license has ever been issued to Gorrin." Moreover, the photo on the license did not match Gorrin's identity.
HSI agents found that Gorrin had initially used a Venezuelan driver's license to purchase the four vehicles.
Then, the plot thickened.
Agents found that between Nov. 30 and Dec. 3 of 2018, Gorrin's four vehicles were transferred to Auto Brokers USA Corp. in Homestead. A person purporting to be Gorrin, using the fake Florida driver's license, transferred the luxury vehicles with the duplicate certificates of title to Auto Brokers, the complaint says. The signature on the certificates of title also did not match Gorrin's handwriting.
In early January 2019, a person who said he was the "caretaker" for Gorrin's vehicles reported to the Coral Gables Police Department that they "had been stolen," the complaint says. The caretaker, identified only by "J.D." in the complaint, said that "Gorrin had not authorized the sale of these vehicles to Auto Brokers."
The so-called caretaker said the vehicles had been taken from a residential building parking garage _ One Village Place at 4100 Salzedo St. in Coral Gables _ where Gorrin owned 11 condos under the names of various shell companies.
Last year, Auto Brokers sold Gorrin's Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati at auction before the federal prosecutors filed their civil complaint to forfeit them in September 2019. As a result, prosecutors lost the opportunity to seize the vehicles because the buyers could not have known they were subject to forfeiture. The Ferrari sold for $150,000, the Porsche for $145,000 and the Maserati for $34,500.
The Rolls-Royce, however, did not sell, so agents with Homeland Security Investigations seized it.
In January of this year, Gorrin's defense attorney, Howard Srebnick, filed a claim for the Rolls-Royce, so he will have to face off with prosecutors over its fate before the federal judge, Scola.
Srebnick did not respond to requests for comment.
Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment about the case.
Auto Brokers USA could not be reached for comment.
