Oil exec held for 5 years in Venezuela sues Citgo for $100M

By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — One of the six oil executives with a Texas-based company who was imprisoned five years in Venezuela is suing his company for $100 million. The lawsuit alleges his company abandoned him and his family as he endured horrific prison conditions for a crime he didn’t commit. Tomeu Vadell worked for Houston-based Citgo and was lured to Caracas in 2017 to attend a meeting at the headquarters of Citgo’s parent company, the Venezuelan-run oil giant known as PDVSA. Venezuelan officials convicted Vadell and his colleagues of embezzlement. Vadell was freed in October as part of a prisoner exchange between Venezuela and the U.S. Citgo denies Vadell’s allegations, saying it supported him and his family.