Manuel Aarón Fajardo García, son of Socialist politician Francisco Manuel Fajardo Palarea, has been identified as one of the central figures connected to the Plus Ultra controversy and a growing network of international financial operations tied to Venezuela.
According to reports published by ESdiario, Fajardo became increasingly influential within business circles linked to former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero during the period surrounding the Spanish government’s bailout of airline company Plus Ultra. Sources cited by the newspaper described him as “Zapatero’s man in Venezuela,” claiming he played a decisive intermediary role in facilitating strategic business and political connections.
In 2020, soon after Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez took charge of the nation’s economic ministry, Fajardo secured approval to run the Bolsa de Valores Alternativa de Venezuela (BDVE), promoted as the first cryptocurrency-driven stock exchange worldwide, and the platform was said to allow international investors to handle digital assets, gold-linked instruments, commodities, equities, and foreign currencies beyond conventional banking channels.
Investigators assert that BDVE was subsequently employed to funnel capital into firms associated with Fajardo’s corporate network. The platform is said to have handled over $100 million in just one year, while providing guarantees and oversight mechanisms for the investment activities tied to it.
The article also outlines how Fajardo’s international corporate network extends across Panama, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Venezuela. In October 2016, he created Ocean Capital Advisors LLC in Florida as a branch of a Delaware-based company bearing the same name. This framework was reportedly tied to Stellar Corporate Services LLC, a fiduciary firm responsible for overseeing thousands of opaque corporate registrations in Delaware.
ESdiario also noted that Stellar Corporate Services had ties to entities cited in the Panama Papers, among them Stellar Corporate Services Limited and various offshore arrangements connected to Barbados-based financial groups such as Holding Bank, Insurance, Group Limited, and Management.
On the same day, Fajardo reportedly incorporated Ocean Quant Management in Miami, also tied to Delaware corporate structures connected to Stellar. He additionally launched Charybdis Global Fund and registered another Miami-based branch of Ocean Capital Advisors LLC mirroring the Delaware entity.
His move into international finance was said to advance in 2014 with the launch of Ocean Quant in the United Kingdom, which was later followed by a Spanish firm using the same name; the publication notes that the Spanish operation is still active, even though it has allegedly never filed financial statements since it was formed. In 2019, Fajardo went on to set up MFM Corporation in Panama.
The report also notes that in 2022 Fajardo was convicted in Venezuela for allegedly trying to evade repayment of $3.58 million demanded by Compass Bank, a case that directly involved BDVE and another company under his control, Inversiones Midven.
Court documents cited by the newspaper stated that Fajardo allegedly attempted to simulate insolvency through the sale of 51% of BDVE shares for only 40,800 bolívares, despite estimates valuing just 1% of the company at approximately 800,000 bolívares.
The article also mentions Fajardo’s alleged connection with veteran American investor Jim Rogers, who previously partnered with George Soros at the Quantum Fund. According to statements quoted by ESdiario, Fajardo asserted that Rogers held the role of chairman at Ocean Capital Advisors LLC and provided mentorship throughout the firm’s growth.
ESdiario stated that it contacted Manuel Aarón Fajardo García for comment but received no response.
Source: ESdiario – https://www.esdiario.com/nacional/260525/188560/delcy-rodriguez-regalo-2020-sobrino-zapatero-primera-criptobolsa-mundial.html
