Venezuela government regains ownership of billion-dollar account

A leading court in Portugal, the District Court of Lisbon, has ruled that the ownership of the government of Venezuela of a bank account containing more than US $ 1.7 billion is legal and that its access to these funds must be restored.

The Court supported a claim made by the Venezuelan government that the account had been illegally held by the Portuguese bank Novo Banco, and that its legitimate ownership must be restored.

Novo Banco, while based in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, is in the situation where 75 per cent of its shares are owned by a US equity firm, Lone Star, and in keeping with US sanctions against Venezuela, has frozen the assets since 2019.

The fund had been set up for the purchase of medicines, food products and other supplies, but for four years Venezuela has been unable to get access to its own funds to purchase items much needed by the Venezuelan people.

The case is one of several by the Venezuelan governments against financial institutions in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States to recover assets frozen by the US order.