Polish state-owned enterprise loses approximately $345 million buying Venezuelan crude oil with cryptocurrency

According to a report by the UK's Financial Times (FT), Poland's state-owned refining group Orlen purchased US-sanctioned Venezuelan crude oil worth approximately $345 million through its Swiss trading subsidiary OTS, using intermediaries to settle the payment with the USDT stablecoin. However, during the multi-tier brokerage transfer process, the funds were massively "evaporated." Citing non-payment, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA refused to load the cargo, leaving several large oil tankers waiting for months in Venezuelan waters before they almost all returned empty. The Polish government estimated that the total loss, including various ancillary costs, amounted to at least 1.6 billion zloty. After the incident was exposed in April 2024, it quickly escalated into a major scandal, prompting Polish authorities to launch an investigation and file lawsuits against the relevant executives. Former OTS CEO Samer Awad was arrested in the UAE in January 2025, but following a denial of the extradition request by a UAE court, he was subsequently released.