I received the attached letter. Its content seems extremely interesting to me, and for that reason, I am reproducing it.
On Monday, May 13, 2013, Mr. Khaled (Carlos) Khalil Majzoub (CI V-6.290.182) and Majed Khalil Majzoub (CI V-13.526.338) contacted us to express their interest in selling a certain amount of US dollars in a structure parallel to the preferential foreign exchange regime established by the National Government. Given that our operations are not for essential goods and we have historically not had access to preferential foreign currency from CADIVI or any other official mechanism, we usually engage in these structured operations to meet our commitments to international suppliers and to maintain optimal stock levels in our stores to serve the needs of the Venezuelan people, especially those with fewer resources. For these reasons, we were very interested in the operation offered by Mr. Carlos Khalil.
The parameters of this operation were the usual ones known in the financial world, resulting in a transaction of US$10 million, with the exchange rate established at BsF.21 = 1$. We agreed on Friday, May 17, as the payment date for our Bolívares to be deposited in their accounts at Banplus (receipts attached as Annex 1) and Friday, May 24, as the date for the payment of the dollars to our suppliers’ accounts in China directly.
We fully complied with our responsibility to deposit the Bolívares on time and awaited their response. On Friday, May 24, 2013, they failed to pay the foreign currency, citing a specific delay in PDVSA’s logistics from which they claimed they would receive the funds, and they asked for an extra week initially. They then continued to extend the dates in days, then weeks, and then months. Amidst our concern over the lack of payment and the aggressive devaluation specifically affecting the exchange rate in the parallel market, they always maintained their absolute commitment to honor our operation, claiming they had already purchased the foreign currency, which was in their possession, and that it was just a matter of days to structure the payment on behalf of our suppliers.
This uncertainty and concern persisted until October 2013 when they informed us that payments would soon be made. On October 23, 2013, two of our suppliers in China confirmed receipt of payments of exactly $1 million each (receipt attached as Annex 2), totaling payments of $2 million. When we inquired about the remainder, Mr. Carlos Khalil assured us that he would honor the rest of the payments the following week. None of this happened, and by early November, upon our insistence, Mr. Carlos Khalil told us that he did not intend to honor the remaining payment of US$8 million, saying that if we wanted, he would pay us the equivalent of those dollars in Bolívares at the insufficient exchange rate of Bs.28, even though the parallel exchange rate at which we honor our international debts by that time was about Bs.70. It was the aggressive suggestion from Mr. Majed Khalil, after using our resources for more than 8 months and subjecting them to a fierce devaluation, to return our initial funds without giving us any right to claim the actual product we originally transacted for (the acquired dollars) and without compensating in any way for the tremendous losses we have suffered due to the negligent, arrogant, and haughty attitude of Mr. Carlos Khalil, who even issued personal and economic threats against us if we did not accept to settle this matter completely in his favor and under the parameters he established, directly harming us and our foreign suppliers.
As disciplined members of this country’s economic life, providing direct jobs to more than 16,000 people and indirectly to over 60,000, while also maintaining an impeccable reputation and well-earned integrity, we feel highly aggrieved by the belligerent attitude and threats from Mr. Majed Khalil and his associates. Not having engaged in any wrongdoing and always acting in good faith since we established the parameters of this operation, we are not willing to accept the threats of being robbed of what legally and morally belongs to us. Therefore, we refuse to be overrun by someone who, instead of appealing to his good faith and vast economic resources (documents attached in various annexes showing his direct relationship with over 54 companies and his economic positions and participation in various state-awarded projects) to fulfill his obligations, resorts to threats and shields himself in the misuse and abuse of his supposed relationships, friendships, and even economic partnerships with recognized figures of national politics—who would only be horrified and repudiate the vile, mean, and injurious use of their names and personal images by Mr. Khaled Khalil, aiming solely to extort merchants whose only mistake was hoping for prosperity and the economic development of Venezuela in good faith.
Without further ado,
Antonio Chambra