GENERAL: MAN CAUGHT IN ARGENTINA WITH US$800,000 CASH LINKED TO VENEZUELA'S STATE OIL COMPANY.
Argentine authorities detained a Venezuelan businessman traveling in Argentina with US$800,000 in undeclared cash in August aboard an executive jet charted by Argentina's state energy company, Energia Argentina S.A. (ENARSA). The scandal around the man, Guido Antonini Wilson, forced Claudio Uberti, the chief aide to Argentina's Minister of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services Julio De Vido, to resign and led to opposition-led criticisms against the government of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and the state owned petroleum company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).
ENARSA and PDVSA implicated?
Antonini was detained early Aug. 4 by customs authorities at the Jorge Newberry Airport in Buenos Aires after they found the cash in one of his suitcases. He arrived from Caracas aboard the chartered jet with officials from ENARSA, which paid for the flight, and PDVSA.
ENARSA issued a statement Aug. 8 saying it rented the plane to ferry the company officials between the two capitals as they worked out the details of a liquid natural gas (LNG) supply agreement.
On Aug. 6, Chavez said Venezuela would invest in a regasification plant for LNG in Argentina, which is weathering an energy crisis. Chavez was in Argentina as part of a regional tour (see NotiSur, 2007-08-24). The Venezuelan president later denied Argentine media reports that Antonini was part of his delegation.
Argentine authorities said they were investigating whether Antonini committed a simple customs violation for not declaring the cash or if some other crime may have been committed.
On Aug. 16, an Argentine judge issued an international warrant for the arrest of Antonini, who was presumed to be at his home in Miami, Florida. Judge Marta Novatti, at the time, called only for charging a fine for an "infraction against customs regulations" for attempting to smuggle contraband.
As of Sept. 5, the US was analyzing a formal request for his extradition from Argentine authorities. The 46-year-old businessman also has US citizenship. On Aug. 11, the press reported that Antonini had traveled to Miami from Montevideo, Uruguay. Argentine authorities had not then charged him with a crime, regarding the undeclared cash as a "luggage infraction" since he had not tried to hide the money.
Antonini became a liability to the many businesses with which he was associated, such as Banco del Sol in Argentina and oil company Venoco, which acknowledged working with him but denied links to the case.
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