Rafael Ramirez served as Venezuela’s oil minister from 2002 to 2014 and was the CEO of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) from 2004 to 2014. During his time with PDVSA, the company’s turnover reached an astonishing 1.246 trillion USD, according to figures «audited» by KPMG.
The income of 1.246 trillion USD, in a country with a population of around 30 million, is significant. Ramirez claimed for the first time that PDVSA submitted 480 billion USD to the Venezuelan State during his leadership.
1,246 – 480 = 766 billion USD.
To put things into perspective, Ramirez’s assertion about transferring 480 billion USD leaves an amount larger than the TARP bailout.
Venezuela is teetering on the edge of default, with debts of around 150 billion USD. The country’s reserves have plummeted to under 10 billion USD, and PDVSA’s oil production is reportedly below 2 million barrels per day.
So, where did the money go?
Andorra’s GDP is around 3.2 billion USD. Close associates of Ramirez allegedly misappropriated 4.2 billion USD through Banca Privada D’Andorra in just one transaction.
Between 2012 and 2015, PDVSA awarded contracts worth over 30 billion USD: 20% of these went to non-existent companies, while some were granted—without competitive bidding—to Ramirez’s close associates.
Investigators from New York’s Southern District have identified Fidel Ramirez (brother of Rafael) as a recipient of bribes in energy-related corrupt practices sanctioned by Rafael.
Roberto Rincon, another businessman tied to Ramirez, faced indictment for his role in a corruption scheme that cost PDVSA over 1 billion USD.
Nervis Villalobos, a trusted aide of Rafael, currently sits in a Spanish prison for his role in bribery and procurement corruption linked to PDVSA.
Rafael is also implicated, through Villalobos, in the allocation of no-bid contracts to Derwick Associates.
Diego Salazar, Rafael’s first cousin, was arrested in Venezuela for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar corruption scheme tied to PDVSA’s insurance policies.
Jesus Enrique Luongo (Ramirez’s cousin and VP of Refining at PDVSA) was detained while attempting to board a flight from Caracas’ international airport due to his connections to Salazar’s insurance schemes.
Balso Sanso, Rafael’s brother-in-law, received an additional official position negotiating contracts on behalf of PDVSA related to the Orinoco oil belt.
Wilmer Ruperti, a businessman involved in shipping deals with PDVSA, claimed in court documents that Rafael personally approved his corrupt activities.
Eudomario Carruyo, former VP of Finance at PDVSA, is linked—though it will be revealed later—to Salazar’s corruption network focused in Andorra and played a key role in a 500 million USD Ponzi scheme involving PDVSA’s workers’ pension funds.
Rafael, alongside Eulogio del Pino (currently arrested) and Jose Luis Parada (wanted), was pivotal in the Aban Pearl / Petro Saudi scandal, with the Pantin brothers acting as facilitators, having received over 1 billion USD in no-bid contracts during Rafael’s tenure.
Rafael was instrumental in providing Williams F1 Team with over 100 million USD so that Pastor Maldonado could compete as a racing driver.
It is believed that Rafael oversaw the transfer of more than 20 billion USD in oil shipments to Cuba and other rogue states in the Caribbean through Petro Caribe.
ALBANISA, another scheme developed during Rafael’s watch between PDVSA and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, totaled 3.5 billion USD, making up about 27% of Nicaragua’s GDP as of 2015.
The scandals associated with Rafael are just a fraction of the corruption allegations against him. He recently stated that PDVSA operates as «a 234 companies holding» which «grants over 100,000» contracts regularly. His assertions of being uninvolved in corruption seem little more than wishful thinking.
For those following Venezuela’s monumental corruption, nearly every trail leads back to Rafael. The joint ministerial oversight and executive control of the country’s primary revenue source leave him without any defense or escape. His position is absolutely unsustainable. Like many Venezuelan officials, he might be considering using the vast amounts of incriminating evidence he has collected over the years to shield himself from looming legal charges in Venezuela. However, numerous close associates have potentially damning information about Rafael and are currently in prisons far from chavismo’s grasp, cooperating with law enforcement agencies.
This may well lead to Rafael’s downfall. It’s not the comical Venezuelan Attorney General or a Nicolas Maduro purge he needs to worry about; it’s Villalobos, Reiter, Oberto, Convit, Kaufmann, Isea, Andrade, Alvarado, de Leon, Gill, Vargas… Investigations in Spain, Andorra, Switzerland, and various Federal Agencies are what will uncover Rafael as the orchestrator behind the most extensive corruption scandal in history. 1.246 trillion USD…