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CARACAS, Venezuela – A Venezuelan judge on Thursday found six U.S. oil executives guilty of a massive corruption scheme and immediately sentenced them to prison.
The so-called Citgo 6 – employees of the Houston-based Citgo refining company, which is owned by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA – was lured to Venezuela three years ago for a business meeting and arrested.
The men – Gustavo Cárdenas, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira – each face more than eight years in prison. Five are Venezuelan Americans with roots in Texas and Louisiana, and one is a permanent resident of the United States, according to media reports.
Corruption has been a chronic and well-known problem for years at PDVSA and has helped reduce its operations and profits. With the arrest of the six men, the government of President Nicolás Maduro began a purge of Venezuela’s once thriving oil industry, built on the world’s largest crude reserves. He later arrested the head of PDVSA, a former oil minister and dozens of others.
Prior to the sentencing, one of the leaders, Mr Vadell, imprisoned in Venezuela for three years, said in a letter provided to The Associated Press that he was just hoping for a fair trial so he could clear his name and leave. . his family’s home in the United States. Mr Vadell’s lawyer argued he was innocent of the charges.
Mr Vadell, 61, said it was particularly painful to be separated during the Thanksgiving season from his wife, three grown children and a newborn grandson whom he never had .
“Before experiencing this tragedy, these celebrations were very special times for our family,” he wrote, claiming he embraced the traditional American holiday after moving in 1999 from Caracas to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for a job with the Venezuelan company Citgo. . “Now they bring me a lot of sadness,” he said.
It was the first time Mr. Vadell, or one of the Citgo 6s, had spoken publicly since his arrest.
Mr Vadell and five other Citgo executives were summoned to the headquarters of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, the parent company of Houston-based Citgo, for what they were told to be a budget meeting on November 21, 2017. A corporate jet flew them to Caracas and were told they would be home for Thanksgiving.
Instead, a cadre of military intelligence officers invaded the conference hall, taking them to jail. Their trial began four months ago and closing arguments were held on Thursday.
Mr. Vadell was held in a dreaded Caracas prison called El Helicoide.
Despite his circumstances, he said, he hoped for a better future.
“During the trial, the truth turned out to be undeniable,” he said in the handwritten four-page letter. “It proves that I am innocent.”
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