U.S. Senate Committee on Finance ranking member Ron Wyden seeks Trafigura answers on Venezuelan gold deal and U.S. sanctions compliance

U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden has written to Trafigura demanding details on the company’s due diligence and compliance controls for a deal to purchase Venezuelan gold for processing, sale, and distribution in the United States, citing U.S. sanctions that prohibit the sale of gold from mines controlled by terrorist organizations. The letter points to reported links between Venezuela’s mining industry and groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State, and asks for information on Trafigura’s human rights due diligence and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework. It also seeks specifics on the agreement’s structure, safeguards against public corruption and human rights abuses, and Trafigura’s claimed efforts to build a “responsible gold-sourcing program” in Venezuela, amid reports of an initial shipment arriving in the United States. Wyden highlights reporting that the deal covers up to 1,000 kilograms of gold sourced from Venezuela’s state-owned mining firm Minerven, which the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned in 2019, and notes reporting that the agreement was brokered by Trump administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.