Shadowy brokers walk off with billions in Venezuelan oil

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It would be very difficult for even a much less corrupt state to implement all the necessary controls.” While the fallout from the scandal continues, it already has felled one major power broker — Tareck El Aissami, the country's oil czar. Internal PDVSA documents obtained by The Associated Press show the state oil company was owed $10.1 billion as of August 2022 from 90 mostly unknown trading companies that have emerged as major buyers of Venezuelan crude since the U.S. imposed economic sanctions in a campaign to oust President Nicolás Maduro. That court also wants El Aissami and Ramirez on charges of violating U.S. sanctions stemming from El Aissami's 2017 designation by Washington as a “drug kingpin” for allegedly helping cartels smuggle multiple cocaine shipments through Venezuela. “This destroys us all.” Past crackdowns — like the arrest of a former PDVSA president in 2017 — did little to clean up the Venezuelan oil industry, which is responsible for almost all of the country's hard currency earnings.