Venezuelan anti-graft police have arrested a mayor, two judges and three government officials in connection with unusual operations in the ruling party and cargoes of oil, state television and sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
By Reuters – Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas
Mar 20, 2023
Arresting government officials for corruption is rare in Venezuela’s public administration, which rights groups such as Transparency International have described as opaque.
According to three sources familiar with the case, authorities arrested Colonel Antonio Perez, a former vice president in charge of commerce and supply at state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
Two of the sources said authorities also arrested Colonel Samuel Testamarck, general manager of PDVSA’s maritime arm PDV Marina.
One of the sources said the PDVSA arrests were linked to an investigation into oil cargoes leaving the country without due payment to the company, and that other executives have been suspended from their posts.
Venezuela’s State Prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
Earlier on Monday, state TV had announced the arrest of Joselit Ramirez, the former head of the country’s crypto-asset watchdog, and Mayor Pedro Hernández of Las Tejerias, an area hit by floods that killed dozens late last year.
Judges Cristobal Cornieles and Jose Márquez García were also detained, the broadcast said, without disclosing the charges nor the specific cases of corruption.
On Sunday, the State Prosecutor’s office said it had appointed five prosecutors to investigate the cases, adding the “crimes correspond to different branches of government and involve strategic sectors for national development.” It did not give more details.
Ramirez had since 2018 led the Sunacrip crypto-assets authority, which issues Venezuela’s official digital coin, the petro. According to a statement in the official gazette on Saturday, he was dismissed and the president appointed a board to restructure the body.
Pro-government newspaper Ultimas Noticias reported that Ramirez is under investigation for cases linked to PDVSA.
The arrest marks one the largest since 2017, when the Prosecutor’s Office carried out several months of sweeps, arresting several executives and two former presidents of PDVSA.
In 2018, authorities also arrested several PDVSA executives for administrative irregularities which affected the operations of crude upgraders, without giving more details. One later died in prison.
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