The Italian government has reportedly accused three judges of “inexcusable negligence” over the flight of a Russian businessman wanted by the US over an alleged Venezuelan oil smuggling ring.
Artem Uss cut off his electronic tag and fled his home on the outskirts of Milan last month after a court ruled that he should be sent to stand trial in the US for allegedly exporting sanctioned oil from state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
Italian justice minister Carlo Nordio has begun disciplinary action against the judges, saying Uss should have been held in a prison during the proceedings because the wealthy Russian posed too great a flight risk, according to Reuters.
US prosecutors say the smuggling group, headed by two Russians, faked shipping documents and organised shipments of crude oil disguised as rice or beans. Uss, 41, was arrested in Italy last year while an alleged accomplice — Yury Orekhov — was held in Germany.
Prosecutors said the men allegedly referred to Venezuela using the code word “Disneyland” in their communications and used a Vietnamese tanker that switched off its AIS tracking systems to disguise the source of their cargo.
Some of the oil was allegedly supplied to Rusal, the aluminium company once controlled by sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
The US sought the extradition of the pair, but Uss fled just days after the court ruled in the US’ favour.
Uss, the son of a powerful Russian governor, later confirmed he was in Russia and thanked “strong and reliable people” amid Italian reports that Russian agencies were involved in his extraction.
Venezuela turned to the “dark fleet” to move its oil cargoes after the US imposed sanctions on PDVSA in 2019.
The company is embroiled in a corruption investigation into reported losses of more than $20bn accrued after tankers left the country without proper payments being made.
