The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on a Venezuelan media magnate close to President Nicolas Maduro’s government for allegedly running a network that stole $2.4 billion from state coffers through corrupt currency deals, reports VOA News.
The action by the U.S. Treasury Department gives Raul Gorrin one year to divest his shares in Globovision, Venezuela’s largest private broadcaster. Globovision is among 24 Gorrin-owned properties and entities in the U.S. and Venezuela also sanctioned by Treasury’s actions on Tuesday.
Prosecutors in Miami indicted Gorrin last year on charges of bribing officials in Venezuela’s treasury for contracts to buy dollars at the highly distorted official exchange rate. He then would allegedly resell the hard currency on the black market for huge gains.