The case led to the resignation of Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, an influential Chavista politician; Prosecutors want the arrest of 11 other people involved
Yuri Cortez/AFP
At least 21 people, including 10 government officials, were arrested Venezuela because of a corruption scheme within the state oil company PDVSA, said the country’s Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, on Saturday, 25th, who expects the arrest of 11 other people involved. “We arrested ten employees,” Saab said as he offered an assessment of a new “crusade” that led to the resignation of Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, an influential Chavismo politician. The officials face charges of “appropriation or diversion of public property, influence trading, money laundering, criminal organization and treason,” he added. Among the detained staff are several of the former minister’s associates, as well as members of PDVSA’s Department of Trade and Supply and the Digital Mining Intendency. The other 11 arrested are businessmen, one of whom was arrested in the Dominican Republic while trying to escape.
Prosecutors gave orders for the arrest of another 11 businessmen. The staff carried out “the conduct of parallel oil operations” by PDVSA by “loading oil onto ships without any kind of administrative control,” he pointed out. Saab also said they “failed to make the appropriate payments to PDVSA and therein lies the financial loss”. The amount of damage was not disclosed. The reason given is that the investigation is still in the first phase. According to the local press, this deficit is at least US$3 billion (just over R$15 billion at current exchange rates). The government deputy Hernnam Escarrá speaks of up to 23 billion US dollars (approx. 120 billion R$).
*With information from AFP