US Files Forfeiture Complaint Against Plane Allegedly Used by Venezuelan President
The U.S. filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on March 18 against an aircraft that was allegedly smuggled from the U.S. and operated to benefit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his representatives in Venezuela, in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls. The aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900 EX plane with tail number T7-ESPRT, was seized last year in the Dominican Republic at the request of the U.S., DOJ said.
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In January 2023, a St. Vincent and the Grenadines-based company entered into a contract to buy the aircraft from a Florida company for $13.25 million, the complaint said. The person in charge of buying the plane was allegedly a Venezuelan national who hid the fact he was "representing or associated with the Maduro Regime," DOJ said.
The Caribbean company "merely acted as a nominee owner of the Dassault Falcon 900 EX aircraft," since it was created "shortly before the purchase" and "struck from the register of St. Vincent companies for failure to pay annual fees two years later," the complaint said. Funds used to buy the plane were sent via "multiple wire transfers from different countries, including Malaysia, using both U.S. dollars and euros," DOJ said.
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines company also used an email address with a United Arab Emirates domain to contract with the Florida-based seller. The complaint alleged that since May 2023, the plane has flown to and from Venezuela 21 times.