US places sanctions on Venezuelan TV mogul

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. on Tuesday placed sanctions on seven Venezuelans for a currency exchange scheme that siphoned billions of dollars in proceeds from Venezuela.

The Treasury Department announced the sanctions, including against television mogul Raul Gorrin, who it said plundered the wealth of Venezuela by using the country treasury's preferred exchange rates to profit off of currency transactions.

The U.S. also named six others in the currency exchange scheme, including former Venezuelan treasurer Claudia Diaz Guillen who also served as nurse to Hugo Chavez, the former leader of the country.

Washington says the former treasurer accepted bribes directly from Gorrin to allow his corruption scheme to take hold.

Gorrin has one year to divest and relinquish his shares from Globovision, the largest broadcaster in Venezuela, according to the U.S. Treasury officials.

Last year, the media magnate was indicted by prosecutors in the state of Florida for trying to bribe officials into obtaining a contract to buy currency at the warped exchange rate.

An additional 23 entities are named in the sanctions announcement, however, no further details were given.

The new set of sanctions come as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is set to be inaugurated Thursday after winning re-election in a controversial election boycotted by opposing parties.