USDT Involved in $230 Million Oil Trade Failure Case with Polish Energy Giant
According to Cointelegraph, Tether's stablecoin USDT was involved in a failed oil deal in Venezuela, resulting in a loss of approximately $230 million for Polish state-owned energy giant Orlen.The transaction took place at the end of 2023, when Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA began requiring payments in USDT to evade U.S. financial sanctions. In November 2023, Samer Awad, a former executive of Orlen's trading subsidiary Orlen Trading Switzerland, led the procurement of 6 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil from PDVSA. On December 4, Orlen transferred a $230 million advance payment to Dubai seller Hannon International Middle East, which exchanged USDT through multiple cryptocurrency brokers and intermediaries. However, most of the funds went missing during the transfers, and Orlen only received about $29 million worth of crude oil before terminating the contract.The flow of funds shows that Hannon exchanged $400,000 in commission for $80 million in USDT and transferred $135 million to Horizon Global, claiming to have only received $85 million in USDT. In January 2024, Hannon employees delivered two USB drives containing $60 million and $50 million in USDT to brokers in Caracas. In January 2025, the Warsaw regional prosecutor's office announced an investigation into the related oil contracts, involving losses of approximately $378 million.
