Jorge Nobrega, chief executive of Miami-based Achabal Technologies Inc, was taken into custody on Sunday and is expected to appear in a Miami court on Wednesday morning, a court document filed on Monday shows.Washington has sanctioned Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, as well as other key entities and individuals affiliated with the South American country's government as part of its push to oust President Nicolas Maduro, accused of rights violations, corruption and elections-rigging.
In an alleged attempt to hide the origin payment he received from Venezuela's government, Nobrega allegedly opened a bank account for Achabal in Portugal, where he allegedly received "multiple payments for his services to Venezuela," according to the affidavit., a major purchaser of PDVSA's crude. PDVSA allegedly directed Tipco to wire money to Achabal's Portugal account, according to the affidavit.
Neither Tipco nor PDVSA immediately responded to requests for comment. Tipco in November 2020 said it had completed a wind-down of purchases of Venezuelan crude per a request from the U.S. State Department.