Employee of Venezuela State-Owned Oil Firm Sentenced for Violating US Sanctions
A Venezuelan national was sentenced Nov. 14 to 30 months in prison for his role in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Petroleos de Venezuela, a Venezuelan state-owned oil company, DOJ announced.
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From 2019 to 2021, George Semerene Quintero worked with various co-conspirators to "illegally procure aircraft parts" from the U.S. in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls to service the state-owned oil company's aircraft fleet. Semerene worked in Petroleos de Venezuela's procurement department and told the U.S. sellers that the goods were meant for end users in Costa Rica and Spain, DOJ said.
Semerene caused these third-party companies to "lie to U.S. parts suppliers," make "false declarations on customs forms and shipping documents," "fabricate supplier invoices" and submit "false end-user certificates," DOJ said. The conspirators used Florida-based freight forwarders and shipping companies to export the goods.