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The attorney general of VenezuelaTarek William Saab, announced this Tuesday the arrest of the powerful former Minister of Petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, linked to a corruption plan that led to a million-dollar embezzlement within the state oil company PDVSA. “We were able to reveal the direct participation and consequent arrest” of Tareck El Aissami, former Minister of Petroleum and former president of PDVSA, “detained to be presented and charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the coming hours”, said Saab in a statement. press statement. .
El Aissami49 years old and sanctioned by the United States, He was a trusted man of President Nicolás Maduroof whom he was vice-president (2017-2018), and of his predecessor, the late leader Hugo Chávez.
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Resigned March 20, 2023 following the announcement of judicial investigations into a plot linked to the sale of crude oil through cryptoactives. Since then, He did not appear in public or on social media again.
#Last hour The Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, announces the arrest of Tareck El Aissami, former Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Samark López and Simón Zerpa for corruption at PDVSA. #09April pic.twitter.com/fLRf6xwWbK
—Globovisão (@globovision) April 9, 2024
The prosecutor showed a photo of the moment of his arrest: The former oil czar appears in handcuffs, wearing a T-shirt and sports overalls, escorted by two employees with his face covered.
He also announced the capture of Simón Alejandro Zerpa, former Minister of Economy, and Samar José López, businessman accused of money and capital laundering.
The sale of crude oil through cryptoassets It was a government bet to avoid the financial sanctions imposed by Washington on Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves in the world – 297 billion barrels.
In the first phase, a year ago, 61 officials, politicians and businesspeople were arrested after embezzlement of more than 15 billion dollars, according to press reports.
Source: Elcomercio
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