The former Venezuelan oil minister, who resigned abruptly last year while prosecutors investigated corruption and other misconduct at the highest levels of the state-run crude industry, has been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme that diverted hundreds of millions of dollars from state coffers, the government said Tuesday.
The Communications Ministry released images of Tareck El Aissami being handcuffed and walking down a hallway flanked by officers. Attorney General Tarek William Saab told reporters that El Aissami would make his first court appearance Tuesday on charges including treason, money laundering and criminal association.
Saab did not say when El Aissami was arrested.
The oil minister resigned a few days before several senior officials in the government of President Nicolás Maduro and business executives were arrested in March 2023 as part of an investigation into the , which was based on international oil sales. El Aissami disappeared from public view after the arrests, and his whereabouts had been the subject of frequent speculation.
Saab said El Aissami’s arrest took time because of the lengthy investigation.
The top prosecutor linked the former minister to the alleged scheme that involved selling Venezuelan oil through the country’s cryptocurrency oversight agency, bypassing the state-run Petróleos de Venezuela SA.
Saab said last year that the oversight agency allegedly signed contracts for the loading of crude on ships “without any type of administrative control or guarantees,” violating legal regulations. Once the oil was marketed, he said, “the corresponding payments were not made” to the state oil company.
In announcing his resignation — seen as a surprise move from a man portrayed as a loyal member of the ruling party and considered a central figure in the government’s efforts to evade punishing international — El Aissami said he wanted to “fully support” the investigations.
In 2017, the United States designated El Aissami a drug kingpin for activities related to his previous positions as interior minister and governor.
Corruption has long been rampant in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest petroleum reserves. But officials are rarely held to account, a major grievance for citizens.