Citgo executive jailed in Venezuela for 5 years files $100 million lawsuit

A Citgo oil executive who was held in prison in Venezuela for almost five years sued the company for $100 million in damages alleging that it conspired in his detention and abandoned him in the dire situation. 

Tomeau Vadell is one of the Houston Citgo Petroleum Corp executives who traveled to Venezuela in November 2017 to attend a meeting at the headquarters of the company’s parent, the Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA. During their meeting, the executives were arrested by masked security agents. 

The six executives were convicted of embezzlement by a Venezuelan judge in an unfair trial and were sentenced to between eight and 13 years in prison. 

The first executive was released on March 22, while the remaining five were freed in October 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela. A seventh Citgo detainee died in a Venezuelan prison. 

Vadell alleges that Citgo lured him and his fellow coworkers to Venezuela and facilitated their arrest as part of a scheme for them to be used as “political pawns.” He claims that Citgo took such measures in retaliation for U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela and in order to gain favor with the regime of Nicolas Maduro.

 “All while Citgo sat on the sidelines, merely observing the terrible consequences of its decision to sacrifice and abandon its loyal employee,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in state district court in Houston.

“We suffered a lot and continue to suffer,” Vadell said in a statement about himself and his family.

Citgo responded to the lawsuit with a statement denying Vadell’s allegations and their ties to Venezuelan-owned PDVSA. The lawsuit “irresponsibly equates Citgo, an American company based in Houston, with an authoritarian regime in Venezuela.”

“The Citgo 6 were our senior-most executives, and neither they nor Citgo, the company they led, are responsible for the arbitrary acts of Maduro’s repressive regime. Citgo’s leadership has supported Mr. Vadell and his family in significant financial and other ways,” the company said.