Portugal’s authorities are investigating the alleged theft of funds that belonged to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA.
The missing money was channelled through Banco Espírito Santo between 2009 and 2014 - the year in which the bank went bust.
Venezuela claims that about $11 billion went missing at the oil company under the management of Rafael Ramirez, currently Venezuela's envoy to the United Nations, a claim Ramirez denies, calling the allegations, "irresponsible lies."
The investigators are looking at the oil company’s modus operandi "in which there could have been money laundering and in which former employees of PDVSA and its subsidiaries could have been involved."
The oil company received payments for crude oil deliveries at accounts run by BES, according to a 2014 Reuters report.
In an ill-timed investment, PDVSA also purchased $365 million in bonds issued by Grupo Espírito Santo, money that it wants back in return for providing details of those involved in corruption, and says it will carry out legal actions in Portugal but so far has given few details.
On June 9th, 2014, Grupo Espírito Santo’s Ricardo Salgado signed two letters for Venezuela’s state oil company, which had bought the bonds from his family’s holding company, assuring the Venezuelans that their money was safe.
The "cartas-conforto" (letters of comfort) were written on Banco Espírito Santo headed paper and were co-signed by Ricardo Salgado, who was the bank’s chief executive and head of the family holding company.
"Banco Espírito Santo guarantees ... it will provide the necessary funds to allow reimbursement at maturity,” read the letters.
The funds disappeared along with everyone else’s, apart from special depositors and investors that had been given the wink that things were about to get nasty and to get their money out quickly. These 'friends and family' funds make up over half of the ‘missing €10 billion' that exited Portugal for offshore accounts but mysteriously was not reported to the Treasury due to a ‘computer error.’
PDVSA, following the PR guidebook to the letter, acknowledges its past problems and states that it, "will continue reinforcing its internal controls and implementing new mechanisms and procedures to ensure that situations like this do not occur again."
The delicious scenario of PDVSA trading information on the corruption and methodology of its missing $11 billion, putting BES and Ricardo Salgado squarely in the frame for running the associated banking services, is one that may delight readers and those seeking the truth behind the cancerous body that was Grupo Espírito Santo.
