Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab speaks on the advances in the investigations regarding the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot, May 2, 2024. Photo: X/@VTVcanal8.
The attorney general of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, reported that far-right politicians Leopoldo López and Julio Borges, who are wanted in Venezuela for their participation in multiple coup attempts and corruption schemes, benefited from the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot.
At a press conference on Thursday, May 2, Saab provided new details on the investigations being carried out by the Attorney General’s Office about the links of the detained businessman Samark López and former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami with extreme-right politicians including Borges and López.
During the press conference, Attorney General Saab showed the video of a confession of Samark López in which the latter detailed the negotiations he held with opposition politicians with the aim of overthrowing the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Samark López confessed that Leopoldo López and Julio Borges directly profited from the illegal assignments of crude oil shipments through two contractors who had business with the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), since the time of former Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez, who is currently hiding in Italy to avoid extradition to Venezuela.
#EnVideo📹| Fiscal General, @TarekWiliamSaab reveló un vídeo de Samark López donde explica la vinculación de dirigentes opositores con la trama de PDVSA-Cripto con la que obtuvieron más de mil millones de dólares.#BidenLevantaLasSancionesYa pic.twitter.com/bIkGFk0p0C
— VTV CANAL 8 (@VTVcanal8) May 2, 2024
These crude oil shipments were valued at more than $1 billion.
The modus operandi of this scheme consisted of two parts. One involved minimum shipments of 2 million barrels of oil per vessel, with an approximate value between 120 and 140 million dollars. The second method required contractors to send fuel or diluent to mix and produce oil in Venezuela instead of paying the price of crude oil.
In this way, the contractors earned a double profit because they got money from the sale of the oil as well as from the sale of the diluents they were sending to the country.
President Maduro: El Aissami Knew About Several Assassination and Coup Attempts
The attorney general further explained that Leopoldo López used one of the contractors as a kind of lobbyist in Venezuela, in order to be able to return to politics.
#EnVideo📹| Fiscal General, @TarekWiliamSaab anunció la solicitud de órdenes de aprehensión contra Julio Borges y Leopoldo López, así como nuevas solicitudes de extradición por su vinculación en la trama de corrupción PDVSA-Cripto.
#BidenLevantaLasSancionesYa pic.twitter.com/Ssq1mihnyr— VTV CANAL 8 (@VTVcanal8) May 2, 2024
In view of these new details revealed by Samark López in his confession, Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced that he will proceed to request a new arrest warrant and the extradition of Leopoldo López and Julio Borges from Spain.
Progress of the investigations
The attorney general provided details on the progress of the second phase of the investigations that has already led to 13 arrests, thus taking the total number of detainees to 67 for alleged participation in the corruption scheme.
Saab stated that after the arrests and the evidence provided by the protected witnesses, it has become clear that the detainees, apart from enriching themselves through corruption, had the intention of destroying the Venezuelan economy and its recovery amid sanctions.
“The plan was to destroy our currency by pushing up the value of the black market dollar, and thus making the economic policies of the government fail,” he commented.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
