Arrest in Executive Jet Fleet Scheme for Venezuelans

The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging 10 defendants with conspiring to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) for their roles in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions imposed on Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, in January 2019.

One of the defendants, George Clemente Semerene Quintero, 60, was arrested on April 19, 2024, upon arrival at the Miami International Airport.

As alleged in the indictment, between January 2019 and December 2021, after learning of the sanctions imposed on PDVSA, the defendants devised a scheme to illegally procure aircraft parts, including Honeywell Turbofan Engines, from the United States to service PDVSA’s aircraft fleet in Venezuela, in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls.

PDVSA maintains a fleet of business aircraft, including 

• 5 Dassault Falcon Jets
• 7 Bombardier Learjet 45s
• 3 Beech 1900D

To carry out this scheme, the defendants concealed from U.S. companies that the goods were destined for Venezuela and PDVSA by exporting them to third parties in other countries, including Novax Group SA (Novax), a Costa Rican company, and Aerofalcon SL (Aerofalco), a Spanish company. The Department of Commerce added Novax and Aerofalcon to its Entity List in November 2023.

According to court documents, the defendants include:

• Four individuals associated with PDVSA: a PDVSA air transport manager and colonel in the Venezuelan military;  two PDVSA air transport managers and logistics analysts responsible for procurement; and PDVSA’s head of logistics, procurement and warehousing.
• Four individuals associated with Novax and two individuals associated with Aerofalcon.

The defendants are charged with conspiring to violate IEEPA, and if convicted, face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.Four defendants are additionally charged with submitting false or misleading export information and smuggling of goods, which respectively carry maximum penalties of five and 10 years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.  BIS continues investigating the case.