Oil carriers claim fraud on Venezuela shipments

Oil carriers claim fraud on Venezuela shipments Ship owners from four companies operating oil tankers from Venezuela have filed a lawsuit in New York claiming a Venezuelan ship broker with ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defrauded them by hiding information about the true contract with Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petr'leos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).
   The suit was filed by Novoship Ltd., Vital Shipping Corp., Cally Shipholdings Inc. and Dainfor Navigation, according to a report in the Miami Herald.
   The suit alleges that ship broker Wilmer Ruperti Perdomo led the ship owners to believe the PDVSA had directly contracted the ships at one rate, when in fact he had subcontracted the ships to the oil agency at a different, higher sum, then pocketed the difference.
   The lawsuit is seeking $17 million from Ruperti. He told the Herald's Spanish-language affiliate El Nuevo Herald that he believes the U.S. court does not have jurisdiction over events in Venezuela.