Global site navigation

Local editions

Second death of detainee in Venezuela graft probe
Business and Economy

Second death of detainee in Venezuela graft probe

by  AFP 1 min read
Venezuela Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the detainee had been suffering from a 'terminal illness'
Venezuela Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the detainee had been suffering from a 'terminal illness'. Photo: Federico PARRA / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!

A second detainee arrested in a huge anti-corruption investigation in Venezuela has died, the country's attorney general Tarek William Saab said.

Juan Almeida had long been suffering from a "terminal illness diagnosed as hepatic cirrhosis," a type of liver disease, Saab wrote on Twitter late Monday.

Almeida was one of 61 people arrested as part of a probe into the state oil company PDVSA and its US-based subsidiary Citgo, launched in March.

PDVSA directors, top officials and managers responsible for Venezuela's Petro cryptocurrency were amongst those arrested.

After the scandal broke, then-oil minister Tareck El Aissami resigned.

Almeida had been a technological operator working for El Aissami.

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!

"At the moment of his death he was in his home after being granted the humanitarian measure of house arrest," said Saab.

Read also

ExxonMobil settles long-running Indonesia torture lawsuit

Several experts accuse President Nicolas Maduro of using the investigation as an excuse for a "political purge" with elections just a year away.

In April, another detainee committed suicide, according to authorities, but rights groups have demanded an independent investigation into that death.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.

Hot: