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Victor Vargas' "empire" crumbles under rumours of sealed indictment
Victor Vargas, buyer of Larry Ellison's yacht, "banker" extraordinaire wh
Message to INFODIO readers: investigative journalism, which is what this site does, takes lots of time and effort. Visiting media looking for a quick run down on Venezuela's gargantuan corruption, pls have the decency to at least cite the source when plagiarising this site's content without attribution (exhibit Reuters here, exhibit Bloomberg here, exhibit OCCRP here). To all readers: do the right thing, the honest thing, support independent investigative journalism. Note added 28/06/2021: impostors are using INFODIO's former editor's full name, and a fake email address (alek.boyd.arregui at gmail.com) to send copyright infringement claims / take down requests to web hosting companies. The attempt is yet another effort paid by corrupt thugs to erase information about their criminal activities. Infodio.com has no issues with other websites / journalists using / posting information published here, so long as the source is properly cited. Note added 12/06/2026: infodio.com has not created mirror websites / domains and remains totally independent and unrelated to others. Beware of websites using our brand.
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[UPDATED] Rudy Giuliani: Russian tool
There's this endless debate about Russian interference in U.S. affairs. To one side of the aisle, Trump only got to the White House thanks to meddling of Putin's operatives, while the other is ever so quick to dismiss conflict of interests of too-close-to-Trump folk. Case in point: Trump's very own lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
FAKENEWS alert: PDVSA increased output
The sheer amount of #fakenews circulating is staggering. A clueless, ignorant adolescent, being "person of the year" provides just the explanation needed to grasp the sort of intellectual rigour in editorial rooms across the world. Reuters, a news agency that has plagiarised without attribution stuff published here, came yesterday with a totally unsubstantiated piece (based on "two people with knowledge of PDVSA data"), suggesting PDVSA's crude output had jumped 20%. Any person with a subscription to maritime data services can see how crude offtake has increased recently.
Burford's Petersen claim: Bogus Bogart isn't Nisman
Once upon a time I was asked to look into Armando Luis Betancor Alamo's international affairs. Reason being, he was designated as administrator ("administrador concursal") in bankrupcy proceedings related to Petersen Energía Inversora, S.A.U. Petersen is part of a claim against Argentina, caused by expropriation of a 25% stake in YPF.
Was Giuliani talking Naftogaz-Gazprom business with Betancourt?
Here's a working hypothesis: In the framework of Rudy Giuliani's recent visit and stay in Alejandro Betancourt's castle El Alamin, talk about Giuliani's lobbying AG William Barr, the Justice Department and other officials of the Trump administration to get Betancourt off the hook could have been a quid pro quo.
UPDATED: Who's calling my insurance company? Chavista foul play reappears in London
SEE UPDATE - Got a phone call today, from my insurance company. Someone had called them, saying I had been involved in an accident, and wanted to get my home address and contact details. Given the impact my anti corruption work is having in Venezuela these days, it would not be a stretch to conclude that this is chavismo at work, yet again, here in London, trying some kind of silencing antic against me.
Open Letter to Donald Trump re Venezuela
Hi Donald,
you don't strike me as a man concerned by the rigid formalisms of convention, so I take the liberty to address you by your name.
Venezuela, my country, is this irrelevant banana republic in South America you may have heard about through aides. It is a failed petrostate ruled, with great and enduring success, by a kleptocratic criminal collective known commonly as chavismo. They've been in power since 1999.
Google gamed with fake DMCA notice filed by either Frank Holder, FTI Consulting, or chavismo
This site has been keeping tabs on Frank Holder and FTI Consulting ever since 16 October 2012, when I got a phone call from FTI Consulting's Maria Jose Tobar, trying to find my home address. This was the first ever Derwick Associates attempt to silence my work exposing their corruption.