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U.S. says it sanctions Venezuelans in currency scheme
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS JANUARY 8, 2019 / 10:32 AM / UPDATED 42 MINUTES AGO
U.S. says it sanctions Venezuelans in currency scheme
Doina Chiacu, Brian Ellsworth
4 MIN READ
WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday that target a Venezuelan currency exchange network scheme that siphoned billions of dollars to corrupt insiders of the Venezuelan government, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Seven individuals involved include a former Venezuelan treasurer, Claudia Diaz, and television mogul Raul Antonio Gorrin, who bribed the Venezuelan Treasury in order to conduct illegal foreign exchange operations, according to the U.S. Treasury.
“Venezuelan regime insiders have plundered billions of dollars from Venezuela while the Venezuelan people suffer. Treasury is targeting this currency exchange network which was another illicit scheme that the Venezuelan regime had long used to steal from its people,” Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The U.S. Treasury said the former Venezuelan officials and other individuals used favorable foreign exchange transactions through brokerage firms controlled by Gorrin and among very few that were approved by the South American country’s treasury. The individuals concealed their profits in U.S. and European bank accounts and investments, it said.
-snip-
U.S. says it sanctions Venezuelans in currency scheme
Doina Chiacu, Brian Ellsworth
4 MIN READ
WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday that target a Venezuelan currency exchange network scheme that siphoned billions of dollars to corrupt insiders of the Venezuelan government, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Seven individuals involved include a former Venezuelan treasurer, Claudia Diaz, and television mogul Raul Antonio Gorrin, who bribed the Venezuelan Treasury in order to conduct illegal foreign exchange operations, according to the U.S. Treasury.
“Venezuelan regime insiders have plundered billions of dollars from Venezuela while the Venezuelan people suffer. Treasury is targeting this currency exchange network which was another illicit scheme that the Venezuelan regime had long used to steal from its people,” Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The U.S. Treasury said the former Venezuelan officials and other individuals used favorable foreign exchange transactions through brokerage firms controlled by Gorrin and among very few that were approved by the South American country’s treasury. The individuals concealed their profits in U.S. and European bank accounts and investments, it said.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-venezuela-sanctions/u-s-says-it-sanctions-venezuelans-in-currency-scheme-idUSKCN1P21LU
