The United States has identified efforts by the embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro working with foreign banks to transfer and hide money and is now all set to slap sanctions on those banks, a senior US administration officials said on Wednesday.
According to Reuters news reports, the White House has, earlier on Wednesday, said that banks supporting Maduro would soon face sanctions for “illegitimate transactions” helping Maduro send and hide money and his network too.
Washington warning was prompted by the efforts made by Maduro and his officials, family members as well as state-owned companies to find paths to keep the revenues flowing, the US officials told Reuters while speaking on a condition of anonymity.
In an interview, the official stated: “They’re trying to move their money and hide that money in different places. Some banks – some foreign banks in particular – are being complicit in this behaviour.” However, the official did not offer any further details over the issue.
The official said the US President Donald Trump-led government was preparing to name and slap sanctions on those banks supporting Maduro that have ignored several earlier warnings.
The official said, “You’ll definitely see some named in the near future,” adding, “We will be sanctioning some in the days and weeks to come.”