Scams to hide Venezuela’s oil exports
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A fleet of more than 30 tankers hired by phantom companies – most based in Russia – has shipped over 25 million barrels of Venezuelan crude from state oil producer PDVSA since April
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Jan 2019: U.S. imposes sanctions on PDVSA. 2019-2020: Most cloaked crude from Venezuela goes to China, Russia or India
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Moscow: Base for 15 shell companies, 99% owned by Dubai-linked client, which export PDVSA oil
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Hong Kong: Three shell companies to buy PDVSA oil
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U.S.
Washington
VENEZUELA
RUSSIA
Moscow
Beijing
CHINA
Sikka
INDIA
Strait of Malacca
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1 Go dark: All ships above 300 tons on international voyages are required to broadcast their location, course, identity number and speed on Automatic Identification System (AIS). Disabling AIS conceals movements
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2 Ship to ship transfers: STS hides origin/destination of cargo
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3 Falsify cargo and vessel documents: Phantom companies falsify bills of loading, certificates of origin, to obscure destination of oil shipments. Ships renamed and use International Maritime Organization identity numbers of vessels that have been scrapped
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Sources: Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters
Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS