Juan Carlos Márquez

Juan Carlos Márquez Cabrera (/mærkɛθ/; Spanish: [ˈxwan ˈkaɾlos ˈmaɾ.keθ kabrˈeɾa], 1971 – 21 July 2019) was an executive director of the Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA. He was involved in investigations of the Morodo Case [es] in Spain in 2019, before mysteriously dying.

He had previously been cites by the Venezuelan National Assembly over missing assets in 2016. An arrest warrant was issued for him on 20 May 2019. Friends suggest that Márquez was not politically aligned, serving at PDVSA only as a qualified manager.

Though appearing to look like suicide, there is suspicion over his cause of death, as he was willingly giving evidence in the court case. The Spanish authorities report that his body was not only hanged, but had blood stains on his chest and head. Other sources have reported that he was found in his apartment or in a shed, including the BBC. Venezuelan military sources have said that Márquez did not kill himself, but was murdered. In August 2019, a Spanish journalist compared his mysterious hanging to the Death of Jeffrey Epstein.

Márquez was a former executive director of PDVSA during the Chávez government, but also believed to be the figurehead signatory of contracts between PDVSA and other companies believed to be the cover for money laundering. These contracts were signed between 2008 and 2012. One of the high-profile individuals also believed to have signed contracts is Alejo Morodo. Alejo Morodo is the son of the former Spanish Ambassador to Venezuela, Raúl Morodo [es], and one party implicated in a scheme to launder Venezuelan state assets to various individuals, including Morodo and Márquez, through false international advisory contracts charged for a company he represented.

Márquez was a director of PDVSA between 2004 and 2013, and head of its legal department. He then became a teacher at the Central University of Venezuela, as well as starting various businesses in Spain since 2016.