Swiss give U.S. $51 mln in assets frozen in PDVSA investigation

Switzerland has transferred about $51 million in formerly frozen assets to the United States in connection with an investigation into alleged corruption at Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, authorities said on Tuesday. The funds are linked to two Venezuelan oil magnates who have pleaded guilty in the United States to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for their role in a PDVSA bribery scheme to which U.S. authorities have linked more than $1 billion, Swiss officials said. Critics have long accused PDVSA, the financial motor of President Nicolas Maduro's leftist administration, of corruption. The company has maintained it is the target of a right-wing smear campaign, led by the United States and compliant international media, to sabotage socialism. More…