Alexandre Rodriguez, who recently resigned from the Rodriguez Group, was released on €1.5 million (about $1.96 million) bail last Thursday.
You may recall that the former president of the Rodriguez Group was arrested in June, with other individuals, aboard one of his company’s yachts on suspicion of participating in organized crime. Several days later, Rodriguez was indicted and imprisoned for “laundering offense under the laws on gambling and extortion compounded, harboring criminals, abuse of corporate assets (ABS).” Investigators explained that Rodriguez admitted to making yachts available for free to the others who were arrested the same day he was. Even though they charge it was a money-laundering operation, they added that Rodriguez did not personally profit. He therefore faced prosecution for abuse of corporate assets.
According to news reports, Rodriguez was released last week by a judge after determining there was no further relationship between him and the others. However, he could still face a trial. Rodriguez’s lawyer was quoted by the newspaper Nice-Matin as stating that the judge still needs to rule whether the yachts were in his own name or belonged to the Rodriguez Group. His lawyer also took issue with the charge of harboring criminals and said that evidence will help establish he did not host them knowingly; rather, it was friendship.
Furthermore, Rodriguez’s lawyer told the newspaper that his client was held in a cell where the temperature was about 38°C (100°F) for most of the 50 days he remained imprisoned.
Leave a Reply