Venezuelan national and a U.S. citizen arrested for sanctions evasion and smuggling in scheme to supply Venezuela’s state-owned steel industry

HOUSTON – Two men have been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging them with violating U.S. sanctions related to Venezuela, illegally smuggling goods from the United States and money laundering.

Juan Carlos Cairo-Padron, 56, a Venezuelan national and lawful permanent resident of Huntsville, and Thomas Michael Fortinberry, 51, Decatur, Alabama, have made their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan.

According to the criminal complaint, unsealed upon their appearances in court, Cairo and Fortinberry conspired for years to sell chemical catalysts, industrial equipment and associated services to Venezuelan state-owned steel mills and petrochemical companies that are subject to U.S. sanctions. Cairo and Fortinberry’s scheme allegedly involved the use of U.S. and overseas front companies that served as intermediaries on shipping documents, foreign bank accounts that moved money into and out of the United States and other activities designed to conceal the fact that the goods and services were destined for sanctioned entities.

The charges allege that from at least 2022 through the present, Cairo and Fortinberry — at times acting through companies they owned or controlled — sold millions of dollars’ worth of catalysts, industrial equipment and related services to the Venezuelan steel company Complejo Siderurgico de Guayana S.A. (COMSIGUA), which the Venezuelan government owns and is subject to U.S. sanctions. Cairo and Fortinberry allegedly used Chinese suppliers to ship the catalysts or industrial equipment directly from China to Venezuela, and in at least one instance, shipped the goods from the United States to Venezuela.

As part of their scheme, Cairo and Fortinberry also transferred millions of dollars between bank accounts in the United States, Spain and China — in transactions involving companies based in China, Germany and Spain — all for the purpose of continuing their sanctions evasion scheme and to conceal the true parties involved, according to the charges.

If convicted, both Cairo and Fortinberry face a maximum of 20 years in prison for the sanctions and money laundering violations and 10 years for smuggling.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Defense Criminal Investigative Service are conducting the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Mark McIntyre and John Marck are prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorneys Adam P. Barry, Yifei Zheng and Christopher Magnani of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.