OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: Venezuelan Ex-Treasurer Admits He Took $1 Billion in Bribes.

In a statement, the U.S. Justice Department said Alejandro Andrade pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering under seal last December in federal court in Miami. The statement said that Mr. Andrade, a former bodyguard for the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, accepted millions of dollars in bribes from Raúl Gorrín, the president of Globovision, a Venezuelan pro-government television channel, to allow him and others to make foreign-currency transactions at favorable rates. An indictment of Mr. Gorrín on charges of money laundering and bribery was unsealed Monday in Miami.

Lawyers for Mr. Andrade and for Mr. Gorrín didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Andrade was Venezuela’s treasurer between 2007 and 2010. After leaving the government, he moved to Florida, where he owns a large estate and horse stables. As part of his plea agreement, Mr. Andrade agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $1 billion and all assets, including real estate, vehicles, horses, watches, aircraft and bank accounts.

It’s good to be the nomenklatura — until you have to flee the hellhole you helped create, and get busted by a decent country where the rule of law mostly holds.