CARACAS.- Between luxuries, sporting events and high-profile photos, the name of Jorge Giménez, president of the Venezuelan Football Federation and Delcy Rodríguez’s absolute trusted man, usually moves in the most exclusive spheres.
However, behind the executive facade hides a much less public financial plot: the management of a network of briefcase companies that has allowed him to move entire shipments of Venezuelan crude oil, accumulate disproportionate discounts and leave outstanding invoices for more than 1.56 billion dollars with Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
This is revealed by a detailed journalistic investigation by the specialized portal Cuentas Claras Digital, which tracks this corporate network set up in jurisdictions as far away as Uganda and China.
With opaque firms such as Panglobal Energy SMC LTD., Ripple Oil Trading LTD. and Hong Xing Energy LTD., the network linked to Giménez obtained direct oil allocations with discounts of up to 40% compared to international market pricesa privilege reserved for a small group of operators sponsored by the leadership of the regime.
Flights in the dark and the briefcase company trick
The trick was not very complex, but it was highly profitable: the intermediary companies received the tankers from the so-called “dark fleet”, sold the crude oil in international markets and kept the cut. While cash flowed into opaque accounts, invoices issued by the state oil company went into the bad debt bin without anyone demanding letters of credit or bank guarantees.
All this occurred under the protection and discretion of the so-called “Anti-Blockade Law“, the legal tool that the ruling party uses to bypass fiscal controls and keep its operations in the dark.
Despite the notorious corruption scandals in the industry and promises of institutional cleanup within the state company, the power structure that surrounds Giménez has served as a protective shield. While the country’s economy collapses and Venezuelans deal with collapsed public services, the investigation makes it clear that the oil business continues to function as a private petty cash box for the businessmen best connected to the Miraflores Palace.
Guaranteed impunity and an embezzled public treasury
The case not only portrays the way in which the country’s main source of income is managed, but also exposes the contrast between the official rhetoric about sanctions and the reality of public finances. Documented evidence of uncollected shipments and barrel auctions reveals a systematic pattern of resource diversion that remains uninvestigated by the Venezuelan judicial authorities, guaranteeing total impunity for its protagonists.
With each shipment that left without a trace in the national treasury, A model was consolidated where political closeness is worth more than any accounting standard. The x-ray of this scheme published by the independent media once again puts the magnifying glass on the urgency of auditing looted resources and demand accountability from those who converted the heritage of an entire nation into their personal heritage.
