Spain’s Alejandro Betancourt Case Stalls as Washington Stays Silent
VENEZUELA · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —What happened Spain’s biggest criminal court has frozen its inquiry into a Venezuelan businessman because Washington will not answer.
- —Who he is Alejandro Betancourt is a Venezuelan businessman who built power plants and has an oil deal with the US military.
- —How big Prosecutors allege a US$4.35 billion loan from Venezuela’s state oil company and US$42 million in bribes.
- —No charges He has never been indicted or convicted in the United States, Spain or Switzerland.
- —The catch Spain cannot proceed without American witnesses, and no rule obliges Washington to send them.
- —What comes next The judge has set a December limit. After that he may shut the case a second time.
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Spain has investigated Alejandro Betancourt for more than a year. The case is frozen because Washington will not answer a request for help, El País reports.
Judge Santiago Pedraz asked Washington for help nearly a year ago and is still waiting. His case against Alejandro Betancourt, a Venezuelan businessman, has not moved since.
A judge who put a date on his patience
On 10 August 2026 Pedraz wrote a line into the file that reads like a warning. He cannot wait indefinitely, the judge said.
He would allow a reasonable amount of time, in his words, that cannot extend beyond December. Carrying on without proof of an underlying crime would be useless.
Spanish law requires that underlying crime to be proven before a money laundering charge can stand. Pedraz says the witnesses who could prove it are in the United States.
He has been here once before. Pedraz shelved the case in March 2026.
In June the court’s criminal chamber called that dismissal premature. It ordered him to reopen the file he had just closed.
The Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s National Court, handles the country’s largest corruption cases. It has been investigating Betancourt since 2025 over alleged money laundering and tax fraud.
Five witnesses on the other side of the Atlantic
The five people Pedraz wants to hear have already been convicted in the United States. He asked for their testimony by video link, through the treaties that let countries share evidence.
Those treaties carry bank records, documents and witness statements between governments. Prosecutors who work with them say a request like this normally moves quickly.
This one did not. Nothing came back, and no rule obliges Washington to answer.
Replies arrive when it suits Washington, a judge told El País.
The US Justice Department did not answer questions about the delay. The State Department declined to comment on the record.
Extradition is a different matter, a request to hand a person over for trial elsewhere. Madrid is asking only for testimony.
What the Madrid file alleges
The complaint came from Spain’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in June 2025. That unit brings the country’s major corruption cases.
It begins with a loan. In 2012 PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company, issued US$4.35 billion.
Investigators say the money was meant to leave the country and then be laundered. About US$42 million in bribes reached officials, they allege.
Large sums went into Spanish property and companies, prosecutors believe. The complaint also named five other people, none of them convicted of anything.
None of it has been tested at trial. No court anywhere has ruled on any of it.
The case that closed in Miami
In Florida, federal prosecutors had an inquiry of their own. Reuters reported on 5 September 2026 that they paused it.
Eight people familiar with the matter described the pause to the news agency. Two said supervisors later discouraged the prosecutors from going further.
Four said the team was never given a reason for stopping.
CNN went further a day earlier. It reported that the Miami office closed the case on an instruction from the office of Todd Blanche.
Blanche was the Deputy Attorney General at the time. A Justice Department spokesperson called the account a complete fabrication.
Blanche had never told anyone to close any case, the spokesperson said. Reuters has not established when the pause began, or why.
Zurich keeps its file open
Switzerland has investigated Betancourt for money laundering for years. In May 2026 it dropped its request to extradite him from Britain.
Reuters reported that US officials had pressed the Swiss government to ease its inquiries. Four people familiar with the matter described that pressure.
The Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office drew a narrow line around the retreat. The withdrawal touched only the British extradition step, it said, and the criminal case continues.
Three countries have investigated Alejandro Betancourt: the United States, Spain and Switzerland. Reuters reports that none of them has indicted him.
He has not been convicted of anything, anywhere. American prosecutors treated him as an unindicted co-conspirator in a case against other people.
What his lawyers say
Jon Sale, a lawyer for Betancourt, told CNN his client committed no criminal activity. There was no evidence Betancourt knew any money came from bribery, he said.
Sarah Chouraqui, a lawyer for his oil company, told Reuters the allegations had been examined widely. No charges had been brought against him, she said.
In Madrid his defence filed a Venezuelan prosecution document that clears him. It says the Venezuelan case closed in 2023 and cannot be tried again abroad.
Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutors read that document differently. The Venezuelan file never examined the specific acts under study in Madrid, they say.
Betancourt and his company Derwick Associates have denied wrongdoing for years. Derwick built power plants in Venezuela under contracts worth about US$2 billion.
What happens next
The Spanish case is formally open in mid-September 2026. In practice it sits still until Washington replies.
After December Pedraz can shelve it again. A higher court could once more tell him to carry on.
Zurich says its criminal case continues and has set no timetable. The paused American inquiry could in principle be restarted.
Meanwhile Betancourt is the Pentagon’s partner in a large Venezuelan oil venture. That deal is what pulled his old legal files back into the news.
A judge in Madrid has given Washington until December. The answer, or the silence, will decide whether the file opens or closes.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Alejandro Betancourt?
A Venezuelan businessman. His company Derwick Associates built power plants in Venezuela, and he now has an oil venture with the Pentagon.
Has Alejandro Betancourt been charged or convicted of anything?
No. Reuters reports he has been investigated in three countries but never indicted. He has no conviction.
Why is Spain’s investigation stuck?
Madrid asked Washington to let five convicted witnesses testify by video link. No answer has come back.
What do Spanish prosecutors allege?
Money laundering and tax fraud tied to funds taken from PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company. These remain allegations.
Sources: Reporting by El País, Reuters and CNN. https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-09-14/united-states-stalls-spanish-investigation-into-alejandro-betancourt-its-new-oil-czar-in-venezuela.html https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuelan-billionaire-us-investigated-money-laundering-now-has-pentagon-oil-2026-09-05/ https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/politics/trump-admin-quietly-closes-probe-betancourt https://elpais.com/espana/2026-06-02/la-audiencia-nacional-obliga-al-juez-pedraz-a-reabrir-la-causa-contra-el-venezolano-dueno-de-las-gafas-hawkers.html
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