Havana court convicts three citizens of illegal currency trafficking
The Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre imposed between two and four years' imprisonment and fines on three defendants found guilty of illegal US dollar exchange.
Mason and accountant among those convicted of illegal currency exchange in Havana
According to cubadebate.cu, the Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre in Havana imposed sentences of between two and four years' imprisonment, together with fines of 500 instalments of between 40 and 50 pesos, on three citizens found guilty of the offence of illegal currency trafficking, classified under Article 315.1, subsection g) of the current Penal Code.
The public trial, relating to Case 26E of 2026, was held on 5 November before the Criminal Section of the court.
The evidence demonstrated that José Ramón Viñas Alonso, who served as Most Powerful Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Republic of Cuba and president of the Board of the National Masonic Asylum "Llansó", carried out on several occasions operations exchanging US dollars through channels other than those legally established. He did so together with the asylum's accountant, Fernando Marcos García, making use of the also-accused Ángel Lázaro Santiesteban Prats and Osvaldo Ernesto Villegas Digat.
The court found the offence proved and set the sentences taking into account the legal framework, the gravity of the act, and the personal conduct of the defendants. As supplementary penalties, all four convicted received deprivation of rights, prohibition from leaving the national territory, and prohibition from exercising their office or profession.
During the investigation and trial, the defendants enjoyed the procedural guarantees established in current criminal legislation, submitted the evidence they deemed pertinent, and exercised their right to defence through an assigned lawyer.
Against the sentence, both the convicted and the prosecutor have the right to file an appeal once it is notified to them in writing. Such appeal will be decided by the corresponding chamber of the Provincial Court of Havana.
The prosecution exercised control of the criminal investigation and participated in the trial in fulfilment of its institutional mission.
(Information taken from the Facebook profile of the Provincial Court of Havana)
Source: Google News CU — La Habana