Did the National Bank of Panama freeze Jorge Rodríguez’s million-dollar account? Review the key points of this verification and avoid falling into viral misinformation:
- There is no official evidence, no Panamanian authority or reliable media reported the alleged freezing of funds.
- The National Bank of Panama clarified that the information is false and has no relationship with its institution
- The content uses alarmist language, striking figures and unverifiable sources to go viral, leveraged by popular accounts that repeatedly misinform, such as that of actor Franklin Virgüez and Miguelina Pérez.
In the midst of Venezuela’s political transition, led by acting president Delcy Rodríguez, misinformation has been unleashed involving pro-government officials, such as the false arrest warrant against Iris Varelaand the speculation about Diosdado Cabello’s alleged asylum in Brazilwhich falsely claim that he is fleeing from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and even blame him for health ailments.
Now, in our chatbot The WhatsApp Auntwhich is also found in Telegramwe received an image that has been circulating since the end of March 2026, about the president of the National Assembly (AN) and brother of the president in charge, Jorge Rodríguez, whose text states “INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL! JORGE RODRÍGUEZ’S HIDDEN FORTUNE IS FREEZED IN PANAMA: THE LOOT OF THE REGIME? (…)”.
The extensive text details that “According to leaked information”, the account had the ““sum of 46,000,000.00 Balboas» (PAB)”, the name of the Panamanian currency, explaining that the “Panamanian Balboa is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. We’re talking about 46 MILLION DOLLARS! stored abroad while the Venezuelan people suffer the worst humanitarian crisis in their history.”.
However, this content is fakesince there are no official statements from Panama that evidence this, nor are there any press reports from reliable media outlets, and the National Bank of Panama itself, whose image was used in the misinformation, denied the content.
This check is the result of rigorous adherence to our verification methodology, after analysis and contrast with the available evidence and does not represent opinions or value judgments, as established in our Neutrality and Nonpartisanship Policyin which we warn of the limitations to the exercise of journalism in Venezuela.
About misinformation
The text that accompanies the image describes that “Jorge Rodríguez’s bank account in Panama has been officially BLOCKED AND FROZEN by the authorities of the Isthmus country.”
He also clarifies that Rodríguez disguised the supposed fortune through the local Panamanian currency, but the discovery of the authorities (who are not identified, a common characteristic of misinformation), “came up with the name of Daniela Rivas“, detailing that, “she is the journalist who serves as the “wife”” of Rodríguez, and in turn, anchor of the news programs of the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
Towards the end, the text states “This freeze is a resounding blow to the finances of the Maduro leadership.“, and after making a conclusion about this supposed fact, invites you to share “this news”so that “everyone knows where the money that is missing from Venezuela’s hospitals and schools is.“, appealing to the emotions and biases of the audience to ensure broad replicability.
Denied by colleagues
To corroborate the content, a keyword search was carried out on Google (they freeze fortune + Jorge Rodríguez + Panama). However, no content was found from alleged Panamanian authorities affirming the freezing of a hidden account of Rodríguez, nor reports from Panamanian or international media confirming the fact.
On the contrary, we place the verification of our colleagues in Fake News Hunterswhose investigation also determined that the content is false, since “None of the publications with the information cite recognized media outlets or any official statement from the Panamanian authorities, something that would be usual in the face of a judicial and financial procedure of such magnitude.”
Likewise, the Venezuelan media Comparison.info reviewed the official channels of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama and the Panamanian Government, without finding any records, which is why they concluded that “the content analyzed uses alarmist language and does not present verifiable sources, a common pattern in disinformation content.” Also detailing that this misinformation “resumes previous unfounded narratives.”
The National Bank of Panama also denied it
Both verifications show a x’s post from the official account of the National Bank of Panama on March 28, 2026 (same day that the misinformation began to circulate), in which the banking entity clarifies that “The information circulating is false and unrelated to our institution. We have no connection with its content.”
It is important to detail that, although the text does not mention the National Bank of Panama, it uses an image of a branch of this banking entity. Therefore, when making a reverse image search At Google, at Cocuyo Chequea we determined that it is branch number 79, which was inaugurated in May 2014, and whose photograph could be extracted from this press release from The Century.
Long-range content
Despite the lack of official support for the disinformation content, it has been widely disseminated, especially by habitual disinformers such as Miguelina Pérez, @gusipati91, who published it in X on March 28, 2026, with a reach of more than 108 thousand views until the time of publication of this verification.
Although Pérez’s posts are often questioned in user comments that question their veracity, how it happened herein this case, the comments reaffirm the content.
In turn, it was shared on Instagram by the actor Franklin Virguezwhom we have also previously denied on several occasions, for replicating content from known disinformants.
This content has a variation in the figure of the alleged complaint, stating that Rodríguez was frozen “4.6 billion“Although several users question the content, it has accumulated more than 16 thousand likes and has been reposted more than a thousand times.
On Instagram it was also spread by the account Javier Martínez Francowho describes himself as a politician and spreads news content with his image, as well as by the user Mariby Lozadaan account that is dedicated to republishing content, especially political ones.
This image also reached TikTok through the account @elgringo1253which shares supposedly news content linked to “Sports, News, Politics, Humor.” However, in our review we found that it regularly spreads disinformation content such as this supposed new strategy of María Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzálezto generate a confrontation of “Delcy Vs. María Corina”.
In turn, the text of the misinformation was shared in video format on TikTok by the account @cuestorprietowhich despite being an account that usually shares content about well-being, health and exercises, sneaks in misinformative posts about politics, such as the false image of Nicolás Maduro in an emaciated physical statewhich we deny here.
This content was also shared on Facebook, by the account Rebel Nation TVwhose publication was spread by a user in the IVSS Retirees and Pensioners group, which usually denies misinformation.
In addition, the text was published in press release format on the page Venezuela Information Networkwhich has operated as a news portal from the United States since 2021, according to this analysis of the tool WhoIswhich analyzes web domains.
Conclusion
There is no evidence that Panamanian authorities have frozen an alleged $46 million account linked to Jorge Rodríguez. How to check our verification methodologythe viral narrative lacks verifiable sources, is not supported by reliable media or official organizations, and reproduces typical elements of misinformation: use of striking figures, alarmist language and emotional appeals to encourage its spread.
On the contrary, the only institution directly referred to in the content, the National Bank of Panama, publicly denied the content and denied any relationship with the image used.
Given the redistribution of content with the aim of misinforming, we invite you to consult the WhatsApp auntwhich you can also contact on Telegramto verify the contents before disseminating them.
