Poland Faces $378M Loss Case over Failed Venezuela Oil Deal
Prosecutors say the men failed to safeguard Orlen’s assets as most of a $230 million advance disappeared through crypto intermediaries.
- On Tuesday, reports revealed that a failed 2023 Venezuelan oil trade cost Orlen, Poland's largest energy giant, $230 million; the advance payment, largely made in Tether , failed to secure the intended crude oil shipment from state-owned PDVSA.
- Orlen Trading Switzerland funneled the advance payment through Dubai-based intermediaries, including Hannon International, to circumvent U.S. sanctions, as most funds disappeared into a complex maze of crypto transfers.
- Alleging $378 million in damages, Warsaw prosecutors indicted three former managers on August 7, with defendants potentially facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
- Following an Interpol Red Notice, former OTS executive Samer Awad was detained in the United Arab Emirates in January 2025, with his separate legal proceedings concerning the same group of contracts.
- David McCoy, managing partner at ADG Legal Abu Dhabi, told Cointelegraph that Hannon "was not responsible for the transaction's failure" and remains open to dialogue with Orlen to resolve the matter.
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A failed oil trade with Venezuela costs the Polish company Orlen about 424 million US dollars (367 million euros). The millions paid in advance flowed as crypto tokens, but the crude oil never arrived.
The race for oil and cryptocurrencies has sparked one of the biggest corporate scandals in Polish history, a Financial Times investigation has revealed. The case exposes a hidden corner of the oil market, where digital currencies and shadowy intermediaries have replaced conventional payment methods and old-fashioned traders, offering traders the chance to make huge profits in exchange for taking on much greater risks.
This is one of the biggest financial scandals in Poland. The energy group Orlen lost nearly $230 million in trying to buy Venezuelan oil with cryptocurrency. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw is seeking to diversify its sources of supply. In an investigation, the Financial Times revealed how this operation turned into a fiasco.
Cointelegraph
The New York LedgerUSDT Payments Feature in Polish Energy Giant’s Failed $230M Oil Deal
Tether’s USDT stablecoin was among the main digital assets used in a failed oil trade that reportedly cost a Polish energy giant $230 million in late 2023.
The Polish government concert Orlen was at the center of a massive financial scandal, and the company lost $230 million in an attempt to launch an adventurous scheme for the purchase of Venezuelan oil, circumventing international sanctions.
The British newspaper "Financial Times" reported on the embezzlement of funds from the fuel giant, reporting that Orlen lost $230 million on unfavorable fuel transactions with Venezuela in 2023, involving its subsidiary OTS. The funds have not yet been recovered. Some of the transactions were made in the cryptocurrency tether (USDT). The prosecutor's office announced that it has again requested the extradition of Samer A., the then-head of OTS, …
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