Venezuela arrests brother of ex oil czar in corruption probe

Venezuela has thrown back in prison the brother of the country's former oil czar as part of an ongoing investigation into a multi-billion dollar embezzlement scheme at the state-run oil company. Fidel Ramirez was arrested last Wednesday after failing to appear in court as required by the terms of his bail, Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a brief interview Sunday with The Associated Press. Ramirez was originally arrested in early 2018 for his alleged involvement in a decade-old scheme to siphon to a bank account in the tiny European country of Andorra $2 billion from state-run oil giant PDVSA.

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