COMMERCE SECRETARY HAS LINKS TO VENEZUELA OIL GIANT, DESPITE U.S. SANCTIONS

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

http://www.newsweek.com/paradise-papers-show-links-between-trumps-secretary-commerce-and-venezuelas-703496

 

 

Despite U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s bond transactions in international markets and other restrictions against top officials, the Paradise Papers show that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has an important stake in multi-million dollar businesses related with state-oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

As reported by Newsweek on Sunday, Ross still retains interest in Navigator Holdings, a shipping company incorporated in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific that maintains a close relationship with Russia’s energy company SIBUR, which is run by President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law Kirill Shamalov and other individuals who have been sanctioned by the U.S. Navigator Holdings has received millions of dollars every year in earnings due to coastal shipping services provided to PDVSA.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

Now we have a real Venezuela story connected to an American in power, and noone wants to talk about it.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Il Mango Dulce

[CaliCat 3,957]

Thank you for this post! It's been a while since we've had a good Venezuela-related thread. Time to play Covfefe Bingo!

[Jacque67 7,328]

A shady character who just seeks stardom, and loves bending the truth.

On November 8, 2016, the night that upended American politics, Wilbur Ross was with Donald Trump, his family and top backers in New York City. The relationships inside this inner sanctum ran deep. Billionaire Phillip Ruffin, the president's Las Vegas partner who had Trump serve as best man at his wedding, was there. So was Icahn and apparently Richard LeFrak, the real estate tycoon who was part of the Palm Beach circle that included Trump and Ross.

But Ross was the only one who left his day job to join Trump in government. "I'd rather hang myself," Ruffin told Forbes earlier this year. "I don't know why Wilbur took it."

But viewed in the context of Ross' career arc, it makes perfect sense. The steel deal made him rich, but his returns have been mediocre since, so much so that WL Ross filed documents to raise a sixth flagship fund last year, but nothing seemed to come of it. Trump, the guy he kept afloat 26 years before, offered his fellow attention-seeking dealmaker a lifeline to relevance.

Ross' appointment as secretary of commerce came with one catch: He had to disclose his assets, providing evidence that he was not as rich as he had long claimed. In 2015, he sent Forbes a detailed breakdown of his supposed holdings, listing $1.25 billion in partnership interests, $1.1 billion in municipal bonds, $500 million in equities, $200 million in art, $110 million in real estate and $200 million in cash, for a fanciful total of $3.4 billion, according to notes taken at the time. We eventually listed him at $2.9 billion. Last year, Ross' assistant claimed $3.7 billion; we stuck with $2.9 billion.

His former colleagues saw the moment of reckoning coming as soon as he accepted a Cabinet role. "It was surprising because he would have to reveal to the world that he wasn't a billionaire," one ex-employee said. "I was surprised that he would take that risk."

[Jacque67 7,328]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/11/07/the-case-of-wilbur-ross-phantom-2-billion/

 

oh my.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

11 hours ago, CaliCat said:

Thank you for this post! It's been a while since we've had a good Venezuela-related thread. Time to play Covfefe Bingo!

I was pining for a good Venezuela story.  Wilbur is one our favorite Socialists!

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

11 hours ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

Now we have a real Venezuela story connected to an American in power, and noone wants to talk about it.

I saw this on Sunday when I was at the gym and even CNN said that he divulged everything during his confirmation hearings. Basically he said yes I have holdings in this fund or company and that was it. They did not go further into detail with him about it and he didn't either.

 

So he divulged everything so how did he do anything wrong?

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

Just now, cyberfx1024 said:

I saw this on Sunday when I was at the gym and even CNN said that he divulged everything during his confirmation hearings. Basically he said yes I have holdings in this fund or company and that was it. They did not go further into detail with him about it and he didn't either.

 

So he divulged everything so how did he do anything wrong?

I guess the question would be: 

Did everything he divulges line up with the newly published papers?  

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

5 minutes ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

I guess the question would be: 

Did everything he divulges line up with the newly published papers?  

As far as what CNN was saying yesterday is that he divulged that he was invested into that company and left it like that. But of course at the time CNN was trying to pander to the Russian collusion story and they said that Putin's SIL is also invested in to that company as well so there must be some collusion. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by cyberfx1024

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

1 minute ago, cyberfx1024 said:

As far as what CNN was saying yesterday is that he divulged that he was invested into that company and left it like that. But of course at the time CNN was trying to pander to the Russian collusion story and they said that Putin's SIL is also invested in to that company as well so there must be some collusion. 

Ross protested, citing trusts for his family that he said he did not have to disclose in federal filings. "You're apparently not counting those, which are more than $2 billion," he said. When asked for documentation, the 79-year-old demurred, citing "privacy issues." Told that Forbes nonetheless planned to remove him from the list for the first time in 13 years, he responded: "As long as you explain that the reason is that assets were put into trust, I'm fine with that." And when did he make the transfer that allowed him to not disclose over $2 billion? "Between the election and the nomination."

So began the mystery of Wilbur Ross' missing $2 billion. And after one month of digging, Forbes is confident it has found the answer: That money never existed. It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004. In addition to just padding his ego, Ross' machinations helped bolster his standing in a way that translated into business opportunities. And based on our interviews with ten former employees at Ross' private equity firm, WL Ross & Co., who all confirmed parts of the same story line, his penchant for misleading extended to colleagues and investors, resulting in millions of dollars in fines, tens of millions refunded to backers and numerous lawsuits. Additionally, according to six U.S. senators, Ross failed to initially mention 19 suits in response to a questionnaire during his confirmation process.