Venezuelan arrested in US for working with FANB

CARACAS – Venezuelan businessman Jorge Nobrega has been brought to justice in Miami for providing services to the Bolivarian National Air Force (FANB) without a license and against US laws and sanctions. The authorities also accuse him of laundering money with these illegal operations.

After his arrest on Sunday, he will appear on Wednesday for a hearing before a judge, according to electronic court records. The arrested is the director of Achabal Technologies, a Miami-based company and one of its affiliates in Venezuela.

The case against the businessman is due to a follow-up by the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Investigation. These began after complaints from a secret informant, according to the first document in the file.

In that letter, Michael Simpson, Special Agent for HSI, outlined the reasons why the United States could sue Nobrega.

The document states that the businessman replaced anti-explosion foam in the fuel tanks of the Russian Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. He received millions of dollars in payment for his services.

Payment was obtained through transfers to a bank account in Portugal in the name of Achabal Technologies. A three-pronged structure was used as dispatchers, consisting of Tipco, a Thai asphalt manufacturer, Petróleos de Venezuela and its subsidiary Bariven.

HSI’s special agent emphasized that Nóbrega had never applied for the required license for services related to Russian aircraft, and had also violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. So does the US Arms Export Control Act, as well as money laundering and conspiracy to do business.

For its part, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has already announced that it is against granting bail to Nobrega because it sees a risk of escape.

Nóbrega, a Venezuelan-American with dual citizenship, founded the company in the 1990s. It includes as his address in the Florida Companies Registry a small warehouse near Miami International Airport, where other companies are also registered.

Caracas newsroom