The PDVSA corruption case gets even more interesting, former Congressman from Miami took $50M consulting contract from PDVSA & appears to have paid kickbacks to Maduro's friends...
#ButNothingsHappening
#ButNothingsHappening
He claims he with consulting with the Venezuelan state run oil company run by Maduro & his cronies about how to get rid of Maduro & his cronies, while paying $4M of it to one of Maduros cronies... 
Payments were designed to get help keeping sanctions on Venezuela from impacting PDSVA.
The partner he paid is a Maduro & Chavez insider who is a fugitive from indictment in another of the #ButNothingsHappening cases. Feds have seized a dozen high end properties from him!
The partner he paid is a Maduro & Chavez insider who is a fugitive from indictment in another of the #ButNothingsHappening cases. Feds have seized a dozen high end properties from him!
Apparently former Congressman Rivera has been investigated before but has avoided charges. For reasons unknown, this investigation for not registering as a foreign agent under FARA has also stalled...
Wonder if that is because Brandon Van Grack is now head of FARA for DOJ...
Wonder if that is because Brandon Van Grack is now head of FARA for DOJ...
Rivera was offering PDVSA "“strategic consulting services” to improve the reputation of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company." Which sounds a lot like paying lobbyists & PR companies to push fake news stories & make Swampy friends inside the Beltway...
Rivera claims he was helping the opposition, which doesn't explain why he kicked back much of the money to a Yacht Management company owned by a friend of the Venezuelan leadership.
Rivera also paid $3.5M to a Miami base political fundraiser who put $2M of that into her personal bank account.
In 2017, Rivera made 15 $10,000 cash withdraws from Chase Bank to avoid automatic bank reporting requirements for large transactions
He then flew to Austria & Switzerland to try & make some financial arrangements with banks in those countries...
Now why would a 1 term Miami Congressman be so valuable to the PDSVA & the Venezuelan regime?
Well he is very good friends with Senator Marco Rubio who serves on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.
No evidence Rubio knew what his buddy was up to, but...
Well he is very good friends with Senator Marco Rubio who serves on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.
No evidence Rubio knew what his buddy was up to, but...
The $50M consulting contract was for 3 months of consulting services! Exposed when the Venezuelan opposition leaders recognized by Pres. Trump filed a law suit against Rivera in May for not performing the work contracted.
So what was the purpose of this $50M payment for in March of 2017. (What is it about March of 2017...)
To meet with key members of the Trump Admin & get them to back off on sanctions Trump was threatening.
I'm sure there was an interagency process..
To meet with key members of the Trump Admin & get them to back off on sanctions Trump was threatening.
I'm sure there was an interagency process..
Senator Rubio was the one pushing those sanctions, while his buddy was getting paid to stop them! So curious, was this an effort to dirty up Rubio to control him? Maybe to make him support impeachment...
Or was he pushing sanctions to help Rivera shakedown PDVSA? Time will tell.
Or was he pushing sanctions to help Rivera shakedown PDVSA? Time will tell.
Then FM Rodriguez, now VP of Venezuela hatched the plan to try & 'soften up" Sen. Rubio & use this to pick some controlled opposition. Allegedly with the idea of negotiating Maduro's exit in exchange for dropping sanctions.
The Trump Admin then recognized Lopez's party as the leadership of the opposition in Venezuela.
Gorrin, the pro-Maduro businessman who got the kickbacks from Rivera, then met with VP Pence!
Gorrin, the pro-Maduro businessman who got the kickbacks from Rivera, then met with VP Pence!
But the Trump Admin did not relent to the Venezuelan efforts to settle the situation...
And Venezuela arrested 6 American CITGO employees in retaliation thinking they had been swindled because their bribes didn't work...
And Venezuela arrested 6 American CITGO employees in retaliation thinking they had been swindled because their bribes didn't work...
The opposition has denounced former Congressman Rivera for his role pretending to help the opposition while working with Maduro's friends to influence the debate in Washington.
The corruption at PDVSA also connects to corruption with the Dos Santos family in Angola, who were propped up by the Clinton Administration in the early 90s...
There are massive cases underway in Miami, Houston, Geneva & other locations!
Including a guilty plea in Miami for a former Chavez official who took a billion dollars to rig currency trading transactions that laundered cash to Swiss banks...
Including a guilty plea in Miami for a former Chavez official who took a billion dollars to rig currency trading transactions that laundered cash to Swiss banks...
Many of these cases connect to CITGO's HQ in Houston & the Venezuelan business community in Miami.
A lot of the money coming out of Venezuela was being laundered for drug cartels that the regime was protecting. Former senior military officials from Venezuela have been caught in that dragnet...
It also rises to Venezuela's Supreme Court, where judges took bribes to authorize the seizure of General Motors facilities that had operated in the country...
Also note the guilty plea (sentenced a few days ago) of University of Miami Professor Bagley on corruption charges related to laundering $3M stolen from a Venezuelan housing project...
In something that may prove bigger, the Treasury Dept. OIG is investigating why Treasury officials chose to not designate Venezuela as a money laundering jurisdiction. I'm guessing some Swampy people were getting some of that money...
Most of my followers will not be surprised that the Venezuelan petro corruption also connects to Glencore, oil services & trading company that was formerly run by Marc Rich who was pardoned by Clinton with the help of Eric Holder on his last day in office.
