Geneva Trust Co. to seek meeting in PR over $50 million in Bancrédito assets.

Julio Herrera Velunitini (Wikipedia)

By THE STAR STAFF

Representatives of Geneva Trust Company, the Swiss fiduciary entity that manages the trust controlling Bancrédito Holding Corp. (BHC) -- the sole shareholder of Bancrédito International Bank & Trust Corp. -- are expected to travel to Puerto Rico in the coming weeks to request an in‑person meeting with the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions and the court‑appointed trustee, Driven Administrative Services.

The information was provided by Diario Las Americas, which quoted MP Publishing. According to reporting by MP Publishing, the purpose of the visit is to demand the return of more than $50 million in assets that remained after the bank reimbursed all of its depositors following its liquidation process.

Venezuelan banker Julio M. Herrera Velutini is the owner and founder of BHC, the parent company of Bancrédito International Bank & Trust Corp. in Puerto Rico. Bancrédito International Bank & Trust Corp. is undergoing liquidation after being linked to scandals and facing a $15 million fine in 2023. Herrera Velutini was charged in a U.S. federal indictment with conspiracy, federal programs bribery, and honest services wire fraud. He allegedly bribed former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced to stop an investigation into his bank, but was granted a presidential pardon in January 2026.

The bank assets reportedly include cash and items from an art collection, among them “Our Lady of New York” by renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero.

Luis Zapata, president of BHC, confirmed that Geneva Trust executives will make stops in New York, where BHC is headquartered, as well as Miami and Puerto Rico.

“The idea is to demand, on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries for whom Geneva is responsible, the immediate return of the property that legally corresponds to them,” Zapata said.

Zapata emphasized that the liquidation process for Bancrédito International Bank & Trust Corp., which began in 2022, stipulated that once depositors were fully reimbursed, any remaining assets were to be returned to the bank. Instead, he said, Driven Administrative Services has retained control of the assets and even sold some of them without authorization.

BHC currently has legal actions pending against Driven for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty. It has also filed claims against the law firms McConnell Valdés, Holland & Knight, and McDermott Will & Schulte, accusing them of negligence that resulted in a multimillion‑dollar penalty imposed by FinCEN.

“With the pardon that fully restored the legal standing of our founder, Julio Herrera Velutini, we hope justice will finally prevail and the assets will be returned to their rightful owners,” Zapata added.