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Franklin Duran, born (1967-09-12) September 12, 1967 , Caracas, Venezuela, is a Venezuelan entrepreneur implicated in "the suitcase scandal" between Argentina and Venezuela, and charged by the United States Department of Justice with being an illegal agent of a foreign government.
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Personal information
Duran attended high school at the Pedro Maria Ochoa Morales Military School, located in Los Teques and also at the Anzoátegui Military School. He finished his studies in the Capital Region's Technical Institute, obtaining the title of Technical Superior in Mechanics with a technology minor.
Business
Duran's first big business deal was the selling of SONY equipment and microwaves in the chain of stores "PEPEGANGA" with a loan of $1,000,000 from the Latino Bank, thanks to the endorsement given to him at that time by Omar Camero. Then, in 1992 Camero got together with Duran in an enterprise called DISLACA, which was dedicated to food-importation, distributing to Procter & Gamble. In the year 1993 Duran bought his first aircraft, a Cessna 206.
In the year 1997 Duran took a high risk; he invested $20,000 and made $275,000 in TYCO. That same year he went to Russia with Citibank's vice-president, where they searched for aircraft-related businesses, but came back having bought Russian bonds.
Referring to the human side and solidarity of Duran, together with his business partner and friend, Carlos Kauffmann, during the tragedy in the state of Vargas, they both incorporated brigades for the victims and put in disposition helicopters of their own for transporting victims to Caracas and other cities. This information was transmitted in a documentary by the Discovery Channel. During the oil strike they helped the neediest Venezuelan people.
Through the company RUIBAL & DURAN, Franklin and his business partners are representatives and distributors of North American enterprises in Venezuela, some of them specialized in selling equipment for the police department and the fire department.