Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Police have arrested three men in Maracaibo over allegations that they used Binance’s peer-to-peer market to profit from the gap between the country’s official and parallel exchange rates. The case centers on claims that the suspects bought US dollars through regulated channels, converted them into USDT, and then resold the stablecoin at a higher unofficial rate.
Police said the arrests took place last week and identified the suspects as Adrián Jesús Gómez, 18, José Ángel Hernández, 19, and Guillermo José Roldán, 22. Authorities described them as members of a group called “Los Binanceros” and said the case has been passed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Police outline the alleged operation
According to investigators, the three men were operating from a residential area in the Francisco Eugenio Bustamante parish of Maracaibo. Police accuse them of obtaining US dollars through official mechanisms, including Central Bank of Venezuela, or BCV, auctions and regulated exchange desks.
Authorities allege the funds were then converted into USDT on Binance and later sold through Binance P2P at the higher parallel market rate. In Venezuela, that unofficial rate has traded well above the BCV’s official rate, creating a spread that prosecutors may view as the source of the alleged profit.
During the arrests, officers seized phones, a laptop and a motorcycle. Police said both the suspects and the seized items were turned over to prosecutors for further investigation.
Why the alleged trades drew criminal scrutiny
The case turns on the exchange-rate gap built into Venezuela’s currency system. Access to foreign currency at the official BCV rate is limited and controlled, while the parallel market can value dollars much higher. That difference can create an incentive to buy at the cheaper official rate and resell closer to the market price.
The source report says Venezuelan authorities treat this type of conduct as illegal arbitrage when it is tied to regulated access to dollars and a later resale into the parallel market. It also notes that the country’s anti-money-laundering framework gives prosecutors latitude to examine accounts that receive funds connected to this kind of activity, even if the account holder is not a formal employee of a financial institution.
What the case does and does not say about P2P trading
The report stresses that holding or trading USDT and other digital assets is not inherently illegal under Venezuelan law. The issue in this case is the alleged use of crypto rails to exploit the spread between the official and unofficial exchange rates, not simply the act of using Binance P2P.
Still, ordinary P2P users may face scrutiny in other situations. The article points to high-frequency or high-volume trading patterns that can trigger compliance reviews at banks or financial intelligence units, even when official-rate arbitrage is not involved.
It also highlights risks around third-party payments and omission liability. Accepting funds from a bank account that does not match the verified counterparty on a P2P trade can raise money-laundering concerns if those funds are later linked to fraud or another offense. Under Venezuelan law, failing to act on warning signs can itself create legal exposure, according to the report.
Next step in the case
For now, the confirmed next step is the prosecutorial review. Police have already handed the three suspects and the seized evidence to Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which will determine how the investigation proceeds.
More broadly, the case underscores the distinction authorities appear to be making between personal crypto conversions and trading patterns allegedly designed to profit from the gap between the BCV rate and the parallel market. That line, rather than simple use of a P2P platform, is central to the allegations in the Maracaibo arrests.
Source: Coin Edition