Top Venezuela oil official pleads guilty to taking bribes
By JOSHUA GOODMAN
MIAMI (AP) — 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. Alvaro Ledo Nass acknowledged taking $11.5 million in bribes while serving in several senior roles at Petroleos de Venezuela SA until 2015. The 43-year-old is the latest among several dozen former Venezuelan officials to be charged or convicted in the U.S. as part of Operation Money Flight, a sprawling, multi-year investigation that seeks to untangle how Venezuelan insiders stole billions in oil wealth from their country.
