MIAMI — The former general counsel for Venezuela’s state-owned oil company pleaded guilty in Miami federal court on money laundering charges Wednesday in connection to a conspiracy to siphon hundreds of millions from state coffers through corrupt currency deals.
As part of his plea agreement, Alvaro Ledo Nass acknowledged taking $11.5 million in bribes while serving in several senior roles at Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, until 2015.
“I knew what I did,” Nass said in proceedings before Judge Patricia Seitz, expressing remorse for his actions. “I came here to own up to my mistakes and to take responsibility before the U.S. courts.” Nass, 43, in February was charged in the U.S. as part of Operation Money Flight, a multi-year investigation that seeks to untangle how Venezuelan insiders stole billions in oil wealth from their country.
The case started when Nass, who had been living in Spain, came to the U.S. to cooperate with the law enforcement investigation. Nass, as secretary of PDVSA’s board of directors and then general counsel, was able to influence decisions inside the oil giant.
As part of his plea deal, Nass admitted to taking bribes in exchange for green-lighting a bogus currency transaction in 2014 by which several businessmen agreed to loan PDVSA bolivars at the widely used black market exchange rate in Venezuela. The oil company then repaid the loan less than a few months later at an artificially high official exchange rate.