On April 19, US authorities arrested George Semerene, an official at the state-run Petróleos de Venezuela., in connection with a sanctions evasion schemeThe Department of Justice reported in a statement on Monday.
Semerene, who worked as head of logistics, procurement and storage at PDVSA, He was detained upon arrival at Miami International Airporti, according to the statement.
The US also accused three other people related to PDVSA of conspiring to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. These are Gilberto Araujo, PDVSA air transport manager and colonel of the Venezuelan army, and Guillermo Marval and Fernando Blequett, PDVSA air transport managers and logistics analysts responsible for procurement, respectively.
The Justice Department said that between January 2019 and December 2021, lThe defendants devised a plan to illegally acquire US aircraft parts to service PDVSA's aircraft fleet in Venezuela.
The defendants concealed from US companies that the goods were destined for Venezuela and PDVSA, exporting them to third parties in other countries. among them the Costa Rican Novax Group SA and the Spanish Aerofalcon SL.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the statement.
