https://www.offshore-technology.com/news/venezuela-former-oil-minister-arrested-for-money-laundering/

enezuela’s former oil minister, Tareck El Aissami, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly participating in an international scheme that made hundreds of millions of dollars from state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a press conference that El Aissami has been charged with treason, money laundering and criminal association. El Aissami was once a close associate of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and served as vice-president as well as minister of industry before becoming oil minister.

Former finance minister Simon Zerpa and businessman Samark López have also been detained. El Aissami and López had been associated with criminal activity previously, with the US Treasury Department accusing them of collaborating in international drug trafficking and money laundering in 2017, with the two men added to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Most Wanted List in 2019.

In March 2023, El Aissami unexpectedly resigned during a widespread investigation ordered by Maduro into an international oil sales corruption scheme, primarily focused on wrongdoing within PDVSA. Reuters reported that it has been more than a year since El Aissami made public statements regarding his resignation.

On 20 March 2023, El Aissami announced his resignation on Twitter (now X) to provide “complete support for the investigations”. The investigation mainly concerns PDVSA, which was under the supervision of the oil ministry.