Above photo: CITGO Petroleum Corporation refinery in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., 2020. Twitter/ @realDailyWire.
CITGO is Venezuela’s U.S.-based leading oil refiner and supplier of gasoline and petrochemicals.
Six former executives of the CITGO Petroleum Corporation were sentenced to between eight and 13 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) announced that Citgo former President Jose Pereira will be in jail for 13 years and seven months for the crimes of “intentional embezzlement and conspiracy.”
Pereira also will have to pay a fine of US$2 million, equivalent to 40 percent of the value of the embezzled goods.
Former executives Tomeu Vadell, Jorge Toledo, Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Zambrano, and Alirio Zambrano will serve eight years and ten months in prison for the same charges.
“For the duration of the sentence, the former directors may not run for any popularly elected office,” TSJ stated.
On November 21, 2017, Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab informed that the six former directors were arrested in the country after being accused of signing an international agreement with two financial companies.
With the agreement, the former executives sought to apply for up to US$4 billion loans “under unfavorable conditions for PDVSA,” Saab explained.
CITGO is a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company (PDVSA) and Venezuela’s leading supplier of gasoline, lubricants, and petrochemicals in the U.S.