Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) stands out as the largest corruption scheme of the 21st century. The latest development is an agreement dated September 11, 2017, with Chemplast Steel Industries Metals Ltd, another shell company incorporated in Nevis, controlled by Esmeralda da Silva (full name Esmeralda del Carmen da Silva Izquierdo), through which PDVSA commits approximately 28 million barrels of oil over the contract’s duration of 36 months. At today’s prices, this amounts to around $1.93 billion.
Chemplast Steel Industries Metals Ltd, in turn, agrees to market the majority of the production from the Urdaneta Lake field. Under a separate service agreement mentioned in the contract, signed on May 5, 2017, between Compañía Anónima Militar de Industrias Mineras, Petrolíferas y de Gas (CAMIMPEG) and Southern Procurement Services Ltd. (SPS), SPS agrees to increase production in the designated field from about 11,630 BPD in September 2017 to 38,460 by February 2020.
As a result, any additional production arising from Southern Procurement Services Ltd. during this period will be marketed by Chemplast. Manuel Chinchilla da Silva, Esmeralda da Silva’s half-brother, controls both Chemplast and SPS. Aside from self-generated hagiography, Chinchilla (and, to a lesser extent, his half-sister) lack any background in the type of oil services offered. Their fictitious companies aim to replace, for example, Halliburton and Schlumberger, according to press reports from Venezuela.
Chinchilla placed Esmeralda at the helm of one of the most elaborate networks of shell companies observed by this site:
– In March 2013, Nelson Rodolfo Pineda Roldan incorporated a shell called RODIN Management Inc. in Nevis. RODIN, in turn, was owned by a Nevis trust named Jema Family Trust No 2.
– In August 2014, Esmeralda established a trust in New Zealand, called Jema Family Trust No 1. Esmeralda is represented by Trident Trust Co. from New Zealand. Manuel Enrique Chinchilla da Silva and Jenny Gabriella Pineda are the primary beneficiaries. Nicolás Andrés Nefiodow Pineda and Valeria Gabriela Chinchilla Pineda would become beneficiaries upon the death of the primaries. The designated protectors are Nelson Rodolfo Pineda Roldan and Hilda Beatriz Morales de Pineda (Chinchilla’s in-laws).
– In August 2014, Jema Family Trust No 2 transferred its only asset (RODIN) to Esmeralda’s Jema Family Trust No 1.
– In January 2015, Jema Family Trust No 1 registered a deed of donation, through which Esmeralda donated assets to the trust. The assets consist of the following companies: SCZ Group Inc. (Nevis); Zhineng Jiaoyi Limited (Hong Kong); Chuan Yi Kong Gu Limited (Hong Kong); Chemplast Steel Industries Metals Ltd (Nevis); Chemplast Industries LLC (USA); Redmond Ventures Inc S.A. (Panama); Schur-Chem Inc (USA and Panama); Bluecarp Brokers and Shipping Company S.A. (Panama); Alnas Americas Corp. (Panama).
– In December 2015, Esmeralda was appointed as director of Chemplast Shell in Nevis.
– In December 2016, RODIN changed its name to SCZ Group Inc.
– In December 2016, SCZ Group Inc. appears as the sole registered shareholder of Chemplast in Nevis.
– In July 2017, Jema Family Trust No 1 appears as the sole shareholder of SCZ Group Inc. in Nevis.
Chinchilla used SPS registered in the UK in a production enhancement service agreement with CAMIMPEG. SPS is also owned by SCZ Group Inc.
Transparency and accountability cannot be expected from CAMIMPEG, which is essentially a parallel structure to PDVSA, exclusively controlled by Venezuelan military personnel. In an effort to placate potential enemies, Nicolás Maduro has granted the military greater operational control over Venezuela’s oil industry. PDVSA, on the other hand, is controlled by a mixed civil-military representation of power intermediaries. While the new CEO (Manuel Quevedo) comes from the military, his vice president (Ysmel Serrano) is a civilian.
The Ministry of Oil of Venezuela announced in March 2017 two MoUs between PDVSA, the Ministry of Defense of Venezuela, CAMIMPEG, and Southern Procurement Services Ltd. The signatories were Eulogio del Pino (arrested) for PDVSA, Defense Minister Vladmir Padrino López, General Alexander Hernández Quintana for CAMIMPEG, and Chinchilla for SPS.
However, the agreement to market the new production described earlier was signed by the vice president of PDVSA, Ysmel Serrano, and Esmeralda for Chemplast. Serrano has some pedigree in the corridors of corruption. Chinchilla and his associates have set up the entire structure to continue defrauding Venezuela. Questions about Esmeralda sent to Chemplast’s representative, Héctor Villasmil, went unanswered.
What due diligence was performed on Chinchilla and his family? Why does the new PDVSA -which claims to combat corruption- still rely on fictitious companies without any background? Serrano is the representative of the kingpin Tareck el Aissami. Who is Chinchilla actually working for, Padrino López?