March 26 (Reuters) – Venezuela oil magnate Wilmer Ruperti remains detained, the law firm representing him said on Thursday, a week after the country’s intelligence police requested a meeting with him.
Ruperti rose to prominence after helping move fuel to the country during a 2002-2003 strike at state oil company PDVSA, a role that cemented his ties to then-President Hugo Chavez’s socialist administration. In more recent years, his Geneva-based Maroil Trading became a key exporter of Venezuelan petroleum coke under a contract with PDVSA, though that business later became embroiled in a dispute over payments and contract terms.
“We are still trying to get Ruperti released. Still no access to lawyers and he remains in detention,” law firm Winston & Strawn told Reuters in an email.
(Reporting by Reuters)