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As reported by Reuters, Venezuelan prosecutors arrested 21 people on March 24 for their involvement in a wide-ranging cryptocurrency-related corruption scheme at state oil company Petrores de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
According to Reuters, 11 of the individuals arrested were businessmen and the remaining 10 were government officials. articleAdditionally, the Venezuelan government has issued arrest warrants for 11 more people allegedly participating in the same scheme.
what happened?
The arrest warrant was released as a result of an investigation that began in October 2022. The investigation focused on PDVSA, the judiciary, and Sunacrip, the national crypto watchdog.
Speaking at a press conference about the arrest, Attorney General Tarek Saab said:
“We are talking about one of the most ridiculous conspiracies of recent years involving officials, businessmen and young people, including so-called mafia women, who have participated in corruption and money laundering.
Saab has not disclosed the name of the company or details about the exact scope of the scheme. However, he said his Sunacrip was assigned oil cargoes for sale without administrative control, which allowed consignees to purchase these cargoes without making registered payments.
US Government Detects Venezuelan Oil Shipments Paid Via Cryptocurrency, Leading US To Impose sanctions 2019 against Venezuela. In February 2023, the local press will report Two oil brokers have been charged with using Tether (USDT) to fend off sanctions and settlement payments to settle illegal oil deals with PDVSA.
previous arrest
Reuters also noted that Saab’s office has investigated more than 30 cases related to oil corruption in the country and nearly 200 people have been indicted. Government officials and businessmen were also arrested or dismissed last week.
On March 20, Venezuela’s anti-corruption prosecutor wrote to the Attorney General. They demanded an investigation of his PDVSA personnel, resulting in resignation On the same day, two days after the president of the company, the president of Venezuela Assigned PDVSA’s new chairman, Pedro Tellechea, becomes the country’s new oil minister.
Sunacrip, the National Supervisory Authority for Crypto-Assets and Related Activities, is the official agency designated by the country to regulate crypto-assets. March 18, local news sources report The head of Sunacrip, Joselit Ramirez, was arrested along with several other senior government officials for his involvement in a corruption scheme.
