The conspiracy that plundered Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) paid $350,000 (around €325,900) in 2012 to Fidel Ramírez Carreño, the brother of former President Hugo Chavez's former energy and petroleum minister, Rafael Ramírez, according to documents obtained by EL PAÍS.

Joaquin Gil & Jose Maria Irujo

Businessman Luis Mariano Rodríguez Cabello, the alleged front man of this network that was investigated in Andorra for looting $2 billion from the oil company during Chávez's term (1999-2013), was responsible for disbursing the money to Rafael Ramírez's relative.

Rafael Ramírez, a strongman of the Bolivarian Revolution, played a key role as a Chavista leader in managing Venezuela’s booming oil reserves. He ran the strategic energy ministry (2002-2014), headed the state oil company (2002-2014) and was Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations. His journey collapsed in 2017, when he broke with his government after harshly attacking current Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Why is it alleged that the plot to plunder Venezuela’s national oil company bribed the brother of a Chavista hawk? The answer must be sought in the organization’s modus operandi. A structure that charged commissions of up to 10% to companies, especially Chinese ones, in exchange for opening the door to rewards from the state oil company. In parallel, it allegedly paid PDVSA executives to manipulate contracts worth $1 million, according to Andorran investigators.

Fidel Ramirez, a gastroenterologist, was part of the state oil company's leadership in 2012, when his brother, then the powerful oil minister, appointed him general manager of health and assistance services at the public company.

Analysis of the transfer to the former Chavista leader’s relative reveals that the front man in the plot was able to pay the money to Fidel Ramírez through Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), where the network stashed its loot. For his part, Rafael Ramírez’s relative collected $350,000 from the corrupt scheme in an account at Panama’s Creditorp bank, the documents show.

To justify the transfer, the straw man of the corrupt group told the bank that his Panamanian company, High Advisory and Consulting, owed $350,000 to a relative of a former Chavez minister.

More details at Country