The money route from Venezuela to Iran

Documents in the hands of the prosecution and information USAto which ABC had access, demonstrate that Chavismo diverted colossal sums from the Venezuelan state to Iran through secret schemes. These funds could be used for payments in Spainsomething that is under investigation in the United States.

The documentation reveals that the Venezuelan regime served as a secret financial and logistical hub for Tehran for nearly two decades. In other words, Venezuelan state resources have been systematically used to help Iran evade international sanctions and support its economy and military apparatus. To achieve this, a complex financial architecture was designed: Chavismo used binational fundsVenezuelan public companies, “screen” banks and industrial projects with no real activity as a front, all created with the aim of illegally moving money and hiding its final destination.

Between 2006 and 2009, both governments signed at least 279 economic cooperation agreements in the energy, petrochemical, industrial, banking and technology sectors, bringing bilateral trade above $6 billion (€5.1 billion). This nexus has evolved into a complex financial and logistical architecture that allows Tehran to evade international sanctions while draining resources from Venezuela to Iranian companies in the energy, construction and dual-use sectors.

At the same time, according to these documents, Venezuela has become a clandestine logistical and financial support center for Iran’s geopolitical objectives, including secret military programs and non-state organizations allied with Tehran.

According to the sources who manage these documents, American judicial authorities are also investigating whether part of these financial mechanisms were used to channel payments to third countries, including European partners like Spain. The investigation examines possible secret transfers to allied governments, commercial intermediaries or political actors, carried out through binational funds, banks created for cooperation with Iran or networks in tax havens associated with this parallel architecture, with the aim of hiding the origin and final destination of the resources.

Financial triangulation

Venezuela created a parallel financial structure to channel funds to Iran-linked projects outside of normal controls. The project was supported by special funds such as Fundsin bilateral mechanisms such as China-Venezuela Joint Fund and in funds and trusts dual nationals with Iran, in addition to a network of offshore banks in opaque jurisdictions. Thanks to this architecture, Tehran has received significant flows of Venezuelan capital without going through circuits subject to the control of international sanctions.

A key element has been the Sino-Venezuelan Joint Fund, fueled by loans from China to Venezuela. This money was re-injected via Fonden, which operated outside the official budget. Fonden mixed oil revenues, debt and foreign credits then redistributed resources according to Executive decisions. This lack of transparency made it difficult to track the money, since funds lost traceability when they were integrated with other items. Thus, Venezuela was able to divert resources to Iranian companies or joint projects, formally presenting them as national development initiatives.

Another pillar was the creation, between 2007 and 2009, of an Iran-Venezuela binational fund and bank to finance cooperation projects. In 2007, a binational fund was announced, with capital of 2 billion dollars (1.7 billion euros) intended for joint projects, fueled in part by resources from the China-Venezuela Joint Fund.

At the same time, Iran opened in Caracas in 2008 the International Development Banksubsidiary of its national export bank, and in 2009 a joint bank was inaugurated in Tehran with an initial capital of 200 million dollars (170 million euros). These entities allowed direct transactions between Caracas and Tehran to be routed outside the US financial system. The United States sanctioned the Caracas bank in 2008 for its links with the Iranian military apparatus and to facilitate the evasion of financial controls.

The researchers consulted estimate that Venezuela transported nearly 7.8 billion dollars (6.65 billion euros) towards the Iranian state ecosystem through these maneuvers. Of this total, around $4,689 million (€4,000 million) would come from projects and funds directly linked to Iran in sectors such as energy and petrochemicals. An additional 3.132 million dollars (2.8 billion euros) would correspond to indirect misappropriations. Much of these funds came from Venezuela’s oil revenues, including loans from Chinaredirected via opaque structures to Iranian public companies and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

To send money to Iran without going through traditional monitored routes, Venezuela has used banks located in countries like Uruguay, Panama, Dubai And Hong Kong. In 2019, an attempt was made to transfer more than a billion dollars (850 million euros) from Bandes to its subsidiary in Uruguay, showing how foreign currencies were flowing out of the country via Montevideo. In Dubai and Hong Kong, local banks facilitated payments to Iranian companies, taking advantage of the absence of controls. Thus, a parallel financial system was created which allowed pay with oil, gold or other means without leaving a clear traceusing fictitious contracts and foreign accounts.

These revelations led the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate senior Venezuelan government officials for illegally handling money with Iran. Among those noted are Nicolas Maduro and several of his closest allies, linked to the so-called Cartel of the Suns. Washington had already sanctioned them and accused them of being part of a criminal network. The investigation seeks to prove how this relationship with Iran was used to secretly move money, violate sanctions and conceal the use of Venezuelan public funds.