On August 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Venezuela national George Semerene Quintero pleaded guilty for his role in an alleged scheme to evade U.S. sanctions to help Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA (“PdVSA”). According to court documents, Semerene and his co-conspirators devised a scheme to circumvent sanctions and export controls in order to procure aircraft parts for PdVSA’s aircraft fleet, shortly after learning of the United States’ designation of PdVSA in January 2019. Semerene pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export goods to PdVSA , which is Count 1 of an indictment that charges a total of ten defendants for their roles in the scheme. According to the DOJ, the indictment was unsealed in April 2024, after Semerene was arrested upon his arrival in the United States. The other nine defendants remain fugitives from justice.
As part of his plea, Semerene admitted that, while working for PdVSA, he conspired with others, including other PdVSA employees, to obtain aircraft parts from U.S. suppliers by lying to them; making false statements on customs forms and shipping documents; fabricating supplier invoices; and providing false end-user certificates. In an effort to conceal the true destination of the parts, Semerene also indicated that he and his co-conspirators had the parts shipped through third countries with the help of NOVAX SA, a Costa Rican company, and Aerofalcon SL, a Spanish company, that allegedly served as the purported purchasers and end users for the parts.
Semerene is currently scheduled to be sentenced in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 5, 2024.
DOJ Press Release | Plea Agreement | Factual Proffer | Unsealed Indictment