The email came from a journalist colleague at W Radio in Colombia, seeking information about Trenaco and/or Alex Saab. The topic in question was a contract believed to exceed $7 billion, which Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) awarded to Trenaco through its subsidiary PetroMiranda. Regular readers might remember my earlier investigations into multimillion-dollar frauds involving Saab and his companies like Fondo Global de Construcción in Venezuela, Ecuador, Malta, Spain, and beyond. To be honest, I was unaware of Saab’s new venture with Trenaco, but it didn’t take me long to spot some patterns.
Trenaco SA is a Swiss company. The registration information lists Carlos Enrique Gabaldón Vivas from Venezuela as a board member. Trenaco has a colorful history in Colombia. Its website is a joke: the domain was registered by Juan Velásquez in July 2009, stating “We are a company with over 9 years of experience in the market with a highly trained team.”
From August 2012 to July 2014, Carlos Gutiérrez Robayo (political partner of former Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro) served on the board. There is ample information suggesting that Gutiérrez Robayo is one of those “successful” businessmen who just luck out with public contracts. Setting aside Colombian corruption scandals, Trenaco emerged in Venezuela and participated in a bidding process (B-131–15–0014) for constructing oil platforms, pipelines, and drilling in new developments located in the Orinoco Belt of Venezuela (in the photo).
Trenaco doubled its capital last year, from 20 million Swiss francs to 40 million (around 40 million dollars). This occurred just before the alleged awarding of the Petromiranda contract in August 2015.
Alex Saab, a long-term subject of my investigations, is reportedly involved. It is also believed that the favorite nephew of Cilia Flores (First Lady of Venezuela), Eric Malpica Flores, would be connected to the contract awarding process.
Doubting the alleged $7 billion figure, I consulted Gustavo Coronel, an oil expert and a member of PDVSA’s first board.
His response was:
What distinguishes this from normal bids is the size. It seems like a very large job because they are talking about “COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF PLATFORMS, DRILLING, AND CONNECTION OF WELLS FOR THE NEW DEVELOPMENTS OF THE FPO (EEMM PETROMIRANDA, PETROJUNIN, PETROURICA, PETROCARABOBO, AND PETROINDEPENDENCIA).” This means ALL new facilities that may be necessary. In this sense, it represents a BLANKET contract, although the customer seems to be only PetroMiranda, just one of the five different areas of the belt… However, I can tell you that such a general tender is completely out of step with good management practices. Once the company wins this tender, they control EVERYTHING that needs to be done in the belt in this field of operations. This would be a gigantic job. If, as you say, the contract went to just one company (without bidding or through a shady process?), that would be very irregular and needs investigation.
I managed to reach Carlos Enrique Gabaldón Vivas, previously mentioned as a current board member of Trenaco, to ask if there was any truth to the rumors. Gabaldón Vivas admitted that Trenaco had participated in the bidding process but refused to specify whether the contract was awarded and the corresponding amount, and if Alex Saab/Carlos Gutiérrez Robayo were involved. In his response, he stated that “Trenaco S.A. decided to suspend its investments in Latin America until emerging markets stabilize.” This seems completely out of place coming from a company actively participating in tenders and seeking contracts.
However, while conducting my own research, La W Radio published an article on Trenaco, asserting that the company has, in fact, received some contracts in Venezuela that could “exceed $4.4 billion and 99.8 billion BsF.”
The article continues by claiming that this information comes from projected figures contained in a presentation Trenaco made regarding a joint venture aimed at developing around 600 oil wells in the Orinoco Belt of Venezuela.
La W Radio asserts it has a copy of one of the contracts awarded to Trenaco for $803 million, related to a single development. Similar contracts were reportedly awarded for similar amounts. The article states that Trenaco is facing financial difficulties in Colombia (debts of around $40 million, while increasing capital by half in Switzerland), although one of the more sensational claims is that Saab’s Fondo Global de Construcción became the controlling party of Trenaco in July 2015, adding that Álvaro Pulido participated in Trenaco’s board meetings.
There are some interesting issues here; perhaps the most obvious is that the Trenaco board member Gabaldón Vivas clearly stated in his response to my questions that Alex Saab has nothing to do with Trenaco. Then there is that amount in BsF awarded: 99.8 billion. That translates to $15.7 billion, $8.3 billion or $580 million, depending on the official exchange rate applied. Given that this involves PDVSA, which undoubtedly operates in the most important sector of the Venezuelan economy, it wouldn’t be outrageous to think the State will ensure Trenaco gets the capital it needs in foreign currency.
Jaime Francisco Sánchez Yánez, brother of Saab’s partner, Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez, with president Rafael Correa.
La W Radio kindly published Saab’s explanations regarding his non-involvement in the multimillion-dollar fraud his Fondo Global de Construcción allegedly committed in Ecuador. Despite his “clarifications,” there is a clear trail linking him to the Ecuadorian scam. Very close sources to Saab revealed that he applied tremendous pressure on Galo Chiriboga, Ecuador’s Attorney General. Additionally, a brother of one of Saab’s Venezuelan partners (Luis Eduardo Sánchez Yánez, wanted in Ecuador) is a special advisor to President Rafael Correa (in the photo). It’s no wonder Ecuador’s Attorney General’s investigation into Saab’s dealings is not moving quickly. Notably, Amir Nassar, a Venezuelan lawyer Saab sent to London to meet with me, is also part of the investigation in Ecuador.
Álvaro Pulido, another Colombian partner of Saab (also wanted in Ecuador), also gets a mention in the article. I think La W Radio got this a little wrong. Because Pulido’s real name is Germán Rubio, who was once associated with drug cartels and was extradited to the United States according to sources familiar with Saab’s businesses.
Saab’s stellar performance in Venezuela is easy to explain considering his close relationship with Colombian narco-senator Piedad Córdoba. Córdoba was a fixed element in Hugo Chávez‘s relationships with the FARC narco-terrorists and, in fact, has received much support and funds from the Venezuelan leader, whose passing did nothing to curb Saab’s spiraling ventures in Venezuela. Quite the opposite. William Amaro, Nicolás Maduro’s personal secretary and wanted for drug trafficking, is one of the people ensuring Saab’s access and contracts. A leak to this site even suggests—without confirmation—that Saab was part of Nicolás Maduro’s official committee on a trip to Vietnam and China last year.
Emails to PDVSA requesting comments have not been answered. However, there is no reason to doubt La W Radio’s claim of having documents proving contracts were, indeed, awarded to Trenaco. Knowing Saab’s totally irresponsible and trigger-happy lawyers, La W would not risk publishing things they couldn’t support in court. If the indicated amounts are accurate, this might just be one of the largest corruption scams ever perpetrated by PDVSA, because how is it possible for a $40 million company, which will have to subcontract all the work, to secure such an important and valuable contract? I understand that Saab has been under the radar of U.S. federal agencies for some time. With the latest wave of arrests, accusations, and investigations related to Venezuela, its contractors, and high officials, it may just be a matter of time before he starts wearing orange.