Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
The recent arrest of a 37-year-old Turkish businessman by federal agents on charges of aiding Venezuela in circumventing US sanctions, serves as a stark warning to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has fostered an environment enabling the Turkish corporate sector to facilitate sanction-evasion schemes on Venezuela’s behalf through his close ties with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Taşkın Torlak, the son of former Turkish lawmaker and far-right nationalist politician Ali Torlak, was arrested on November 2 at Miami Airport on charges of violating US sanctions on Venezuela. A criminal complaint filed against him alleges that he conspired to breach US sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The charges arise from activities conducted between November 2020 and June 2023, during which time Torlak is accused of masterminding schemes to facilitate the transportation and sale of Venezuelan petrochemical products in direct violation of US laws.
Torlak was arraigned on November 19 at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he was placed in pretrial detention. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and requested consular assistance from the Turkish embassy.
According to the affidavit, Torlak, along with unnamed co-conspirators, collaborated to involve US persons and financial institutions in transactions that benefited Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company. His activities are alleged to have circumvented US sanctions imposed on PdVSA, which mandate explicit authorization for such transactions.
The text of the criminal complaint filed in the US against Taşkın Torlak:
Taskin_Torlak_complaint_US
“As alleged, the defendant conspired to evade US sanctions imposed on PdVSA, deploying deception to smuggle black-market oil from Venezuela,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable those involved in criminal efforts to circumvent sanctions imposed on the Maduro regime,” he added.
The case underscores the continued enforcement of US sanctions against both Venezuela and Turkey, whose leaders have jointly sought to undermine sanction regimes. If convicted, Torlak faces the prospect of severe penalties, including imprisonment and substantial fines.
The criminal complaint outlines a calculated operation involving the use of vessels to covertly transport Venezuelan oil, with one vessel, the M/T Mirame, playing a central role in the scheme. In 2020, Torlak and an unnamed Ukrainian national signed a cooperation agreement in which Torlak’s companies provided technical management, while the Ukrainian’s firms managed the commercial transactions.
The M/T Mirame and other vessels were used to load oil from Venezuela while disabling their automatic identification system (AIS) and long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) system devices to evade detection. These systems, essential for tracking vessel locations and ensuring maritime safety, were turned off during critical portions of the voyage, effectively concealing the vessels’ location from authorities.
To further obscure their activities, Torlak proposed using “clean” vessels — those unconnected to previous sanctions violations — and restricting electronic communication to prevent the leakage of sensitive information.
The investigation revealed multiple wire transfers processed through US financial institutions, including payments for operational expenses and flag changes for vessels involved in the scheme. Many of these transactions, several of which referenced the M/T Mirame, were essential to sustaining the illicit operation.
Additionally, PdVSA reportedly compensated the network in US dollars, despite sanctions prohibiting such transactions. Correspondence indicates that PdVSA acknowledged payments totaling over $32 million, while leaving an outstanding balance of more than $25 million.
The conspiracy, which began in February 2021, involved the use of the M/T Melissa Amy, a tanker vessel formerly known as the M/T Sino Macro, in a multi-stage operation designed to illegally transport Venezuelan petrochemical products.
Email exchanges obtained by investigators show that on February 16, 2021, the conspirators began organizing the shipment. An unnamed employee of a China-based shipping firm sent crucial transaction documents to Torlak and others, including a charter party agreement — a document that governs the terms of shipping arrangements. Torlak and his colleagues recognized that the vessel had been recently renamed, a common tactic employed by those attempting to avoid detection and evade sanctions enforcement.
As the scheme progressed, further emails between the conspirators revealed that the M/T Melissa Amy would be reflagged under a flag of convenience to evade detection. The vessel would be reflagged to Djibouti, a country known for its lax maritime regulations, in order to avoid scrutiny by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This was one of several tactics employed to avoid sanctions.
Further evidence suggests the vessel’s crew was instructed to cover the ship’s identifying features, such as its name and International Maritime Organization (IMO) number, using blankets or paint, another attempt to prevent the vessel from being linked to illegal shipments.
The conspirators also discussed changing the vessel’s documentation to mislead authorities. They agreed to alter the cargo’s bill of lading (B/L) to indicate that the oil had originated in West Africa or Malaysia rather than Venezuela. This strategy is commonly used by oil smugglers to obscure the true origin of goods.
The conspiracy did not stop at logistics. Several financial transactions connected to the M/T Melissa Amy further linked the conspirators to the sanctions-evasion scheme. In April and June 2021, German companies transferred significant sums, including payments related to the M/T Melissa Amy, through US financial institutions.
In addition to these wire transfers, a confidential source, who had previously provided credible information to law enforcement, tracked the vessel to the Jose Terminal in Venezuela on July 7, 2021. The terminal is known to be operated by PdVSA, confirming that the M/T Melissa Amy was indeed involved in illicit oil trade from sanctioned Venezuelan sources.
The M/T Gracy, owned by a Vietnamese entity, was chartered in late 2021 to transport Venezuelan oil. The investigation has revealed that Torlak, his co-conspirator, and their affiliates used US-based banks and financial channels to make payments to sanctioned entities in connection with this illegal operation. Key transactions made through US financial institutions include insurance payments linked to the M/T Gracy’s voyages, in amounts such as $97,725 and $51,904, which were processed for reinsurance premiums and other fees.
The M/T Gracy had been involved in the transport of oil from both Iran and Venezuela, two countries under heavy international scrutiny for their non-compliance with global sanctions. On October 9, 2021, the M/T Gracy loaded its cargo at Amuay Bay in Venezuela and was awaiting the necessary documents to depart. The vessel’s route and activities during this period were marked by a series of communications revealing the challenges faced by Torlak and his co-conspirators in navigating the sanctions.
Torlak, in a message dated December 6, 2021, explained the difficulties they encountered, stating, “We are always facing sanction troubles, it’s not easy to arrange supplies with good prices for sanction vessels.” This comment underlined the operation’s reliance on evading global financial controls to continue shipments of oil from Venezuela.
Torlak is just one of many in Turkey that help Venezuela to bypass US sanctions using Turkish territory and Turkey-based companies that have been allowed to operate under the permissive and even encouraging environment provided by the Erdogan government, which has repeatedly declared that Turkey will not join US or European sanctions.
The criminal complaint indicates that the US is determined to crack down on Turkey’s sanction-busting schemes, employing legal measures to punish those involved in circumventing US sanctions and violating US laws.
President Erdogan and President Maduro share similar characteristics, both having been accused of authoritarian governance with extensive powers that lack effective checks and balances. They have faced allegations of repressing critics, opponents and dissidents through various methods, including torture, enforced disappearances and the manipulation of law enforcement and the criminal justice system to silence and imprison their adversaries.
Maduro and Erdogan’s frequent bilateral visits, the numerous agreements they have forged and their public declarations of solidarity highlight their commitment to aligning and collaborating on various fronts. These diplomatic ties and expressions of mutual support are crucial to their respective foreign policies and international relations, bolstering their positions not only at the regional level but also on the global stage.
Erdogan visited Venezuela in 2018, marking the first-ever visit by a Turkish head of state to the country. The Turkish president is set to make a second visit to Caracas soon. Meanwhile, Maduro has made several visits to Turkey in recent years, during which he has signed numerous agreements spanning defense, intelligence, energy and tourism.
A month after Erdogan’s historic visit to Venezuela, Tareck El Aissami, Venezuela’s then-minister of industry and national production — sanctioned by the US in 2007 for his involvement in global narcotics trafficking and his links to Iran and Hezbollah — traveled to Turkey to inspect gold refineries.
Since 2018, Venezuelan gold has been transported to Turkey for refining and certification, with allegations suggesting that a portion of this gold eventually made its way to Iran. In October 2018, Marshall Billingslea, the US Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the time, accused the Turkish government of evading international sanctions by purchasing significant quantities of Venezuelan gold in the preceding months.
Alex Nain Saab Moran, indicted by the US for aiding the Venezuelan regime in evading sanctions, operates multiple businesses in Turkey through a Turkish associate named Veysel Altun. Despite this, the Erdogan government has taken no action to dismantle Saab’s Turkish network.
The Erdogan government has been offering support to the Maduro regime in Venezuela to alleviate the impact of sanctions. This support has manifested in various forms, including commercial, financial and other incentives designed to help Venezuela navigate the challenges posed by international measures.
