Venezuela arrests brother of ex oil czar in corruption probe

By JORGE RUEDA and JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela has thrown back in prison the brother of the country’s former oil czar as part of an ongoing investigation into a multi-billion dollar embezzlement scheme at the state-run oil company. Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab told the AP that Fidel Ramirez was arrested last Wednesday after failing to appear in court as required by the terms of his bail. Ramirez was originally arrested in early 2018 for his alleged involvement in a scheme to siphon to a bank account in the tiny European country of Andorra $2 billion from state-run oil giant PDVSA. At the time of the alleged crimes PDVSA was under the direction of his brother, former Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez.