Official: US believes ex-Venezuela oil czar took bribes
BOGOTA — U.S. prosecutors believe that Venezuela’s former oil czar and ambassador to the United Nations received bribes as part of an alleged multibillion-dollar graft scheme in the South America nation’s oil industry, an official familiar with the U.S. investigation said Monday.
Rafael Ramirez, who was one of Venezuela’s most powerful officials until he resigned from the U.N. post in December, was named as a bribe recipient although not charged in an indictment against five other former senior officials that was partially unsealed.
In Monday’s indictment, prosecutors in Houston allege two of the charged individuals told businessmen that proceeds from bribe payments they made in exchange for quick payments and contracts with Venezuela’s state-run oil giant PDVSA would be shared with a senior Venezuelan official, identified in the unsealed portion as “Official B.”
That unidentified Venezuelan politician is Ramirez, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official agreed to talk about the case only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.