[More on this topic here, here, and here] – The claim depicted in the image comes from the latest lawsuit related to another monumental corruption scheme, through which PDVSA alleges a loss of $5.2 billion. The lawsuit was initiated by the mysterious entity, PDVSA US Litigation Trust, “formed on July 27, 2017, for the specific purpose” of attempting to recover some of the misappropriated/stolen funds from PDVSA.
I have been trying to find out who is behind this trust and reached out for comments to the lawyers identified in the claim: Steven W. Zack, Steven N. Zack, and David Boies, all associated with Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. None have replied.
There is no record of such a trust in the New York Corporations Register, and an email asking for information on where to find such details was met with, “The New York State Department is not the trust filing office.” I later found this quote: “Currently, New York state law does not require a trustee to disclose information related to the trust unless requested by a beneficiary.” Here is some information about the nature and purposes of litigation trusts, which are defined as: “A litigation trust, like other trusts, is a contractual entity.”
So let’s take that literally and for the sake of argument consider that PDVSA US Litigation Trust is some sort of contract established by PDVSA to pursue Lukoil, Glencore, Colonial Oil, Trafigura, Vitol, Helsinge, Francisco Morillo, Leonardo Baquero, and others.
Then, if PDVSA really established the trust, how is it that John Thackray, a forensic IT expert hired to investigate the matter, couldn’t access PDVSA’s server room during one of his visits to Caracas? If PDVSA’s management authorized these investigators, how could someone deny access to the servers?
Why did PDVSA choose to set up a trust in New York instead of exploring all the legal options directly?
Has PDVSA requested the Attorney General of Venezuela to pursue similar actions?
Given the past between Francisco Morillo and Wilmer Ruperti (Morillo was employed by Ruperti), Ruperti’s own history with PDVSA, and the creative (ab)use of PDVSA’s name in his corrupt dealings, Ruperti is financing the legal defense in the U.S. for the drug-trafficking nephews of Nicolás Maduro. Considering Ruperti’s past with Trafigura, Glencore, etc., and his lucrative dealings with PDVSA lately, wouldn’t it be inaccurate to conclude that he is somehow connected to PDVSA US Litigation Trust?
What comments would the investigators and lawyers involved in the trust have regarding Ruperti’s practice of posing as PDVSA in totally corrupt agreements with Russian shipping companies?
If Ruperti is indeed involved, what kind of legal repercussions has he faced in Venezuela due to his corrupt dealings with Rafael Ramírez, Ali Rodríguez, and PDVSA? Or is Ruperti’s corruption different from that of Morillo & Baquero?
Sooner or later, it will be revealed. Ruperti certainly isn’t lacking funds to finance legal adventures of this kind, and in such desperate times, the “new PDVSA” might very well associate with Ruperti to “fight corruption.” A source told me that the use of a trust might indeed be a cover, preventing PDVSA’s ever-growing list of creditors from getting their hands on the assets or funds secured by the litigation trust.