Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, pretended to be Swiss President Ueli Maurer and called self-proclaimed Venezuelan interim president and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who asked the fake Maurer to block the assets of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a non-existent Swiss bank that the pranksters had made up
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2019) Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, pretended to be Swiss President Ueli Maurer and called self-proclaimed Venezuelan interim president and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who asked the fake Maurer to block the assets of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a non-existent Swiss bank that the pranksters had made up.During the phone conversation, which took place on February 20, the pranksters told Guaido that Maduro allegedly had accounts in Lexus Vovanial Bank Ltd and asked the Venezuelan opposition leader to provide Swiss authorities with a legal request to freeze Maduro's assets. Guaido then sent a letter with a request for Maduro's accounts in Lexus Vovanial Bank Ltd and other banks to be frozen. After the call, Guaido promptly told the media that he had been in contact with Maurer. The Swiss authorities then refuted Guaido's claims, saying that there had been no such conversation.
"The Venezuelan Parliament is addressing your excellency directly ... in the sense that your government officially provide the relevant actions for the protection and/or blocking of assets held by the Venezuelan State in your country, Switzerland ... specifically in the following banking institutions: Credit Suisse Ltd, UBS Ltd, Migros Bank Ltd, Valiant Bank Ltd, Basler Kantonalbank Ltd, Bank Vontobel Ltd, Lexus Vovanial Bank Ltd, Bank CIC (Scweiz) Ltd," Guaido's letter, obtained by Sputnik, said.
Vovan and Lexus previously pulled a similar prank on US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, who had also called on the fake Swiss president to freeze all bank accounts held by the Maduro-led authorities in the country.
Venezuela has been in a state of political crisis since January, when Guaido illegally declared himself interim president. He was immediately recognized by the United States, which froze $7 billion in the country's oil assets and called for Maduro, whose re-election last year the country refuses to recognize, to step down immediately.
While dozens of nations have since endorsed Guaido, Russia, China and numerous others have reaffirmed their support for Maduro as Venezuela's only legitimate president.
