Venezuela seeks arrest in suitcase-cash scandal

Venezuelan authorities are seeking the detention of a dual Venezuelan-U.S. citizen caught in Argentina with a suitcase stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. The Venezuelan Public Ministry said Friday that a court has asked local and international police agencies to capture the businessman. Argentine airport customs officials confiscated nearly US$800,000 from Alejandro Antonini Wilson last August when he arrived from Caracas. Antonini is in the United States and cooperating with authorities there. U.S. prosecutors have accused three Venezuelans and an Uruguayan of acting as illegal agents and pressuring Antonini not to disclose the money's origin. Prosecutors believe it was intended for Argentine President Christina Fernandez's election campaign.