Trailer: White Collars, Dirty Hands
From White Collars, Dirty Hands: A podcast by OCCRP and La No Ficción by The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
January 27, 2026 · 3 min
About this episode
The episode introduces a money laundering operation involving high-level officials and explores the human cost of corruption in Venezuela.
Madrid, March 2017. A Swiss banker, an oil executive from PDVSA—Venezuela's state oil company—and three financial advisors meet to discuss business. They seek to move millions in corrupt funds without anyone noticing. But one of them is wearing a hidden microphone and records this conversation, in which a money laundering operation is structured, part of a scheme that diverted at least $600 million in Venezuelan public funds. From OCCRP and the Colombian production company La No Ficción, this investigative series follows exiled Venezuelan journalist Laura Weffer as she tracks down Carmelo Urdaneta, a former high-level official in Venezuela's oil ministry who sits at the heart of a billion-dollar money laundering conspiracy. Over five episodes, the podcast unspools how millions of dollars were embezzled from the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), between 2014 and 2018 by a circle of insiders who spent the cash on real estate, yachts, and other luxury assets. Behind these financial tricks lies immense personal suffering; The series also traces the human cost of this corruption, including Laura’s own journey into exile and the voices of other Venezuelans who…
People in this episode
Host: Laura Weffer
Topics covered
- money laundering
- corruption
- Venezuela
- investigative journalism
- economic crisis
Keywords
- money laundering
- corruption
- Venezuela
- OCCRP
- PDVSA
- Laura Weffer
- Carmelo Urdaneta
- economic crisis
- investigative series
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: OCCRP, PDVSA
Books & works: White Collars, Dirty Hands
Places: Venezuela, Madrid
More episodes of White Collars, Dirty Hands: A podcast by OCCRP and La No Ficción
- Episode 5: Chao, Carmelo · March 16, 2026 · 34 min
- Episode 4: Carmelo, Carmelo… · March 9, 2026 · 28 min
- Episode 3: There you are, Carmelo · February 10, 2026 · 29 min
- Episode 2: Carmelo, Where are you? · January 30, 2026 · 37 min
- Episode 1: Hola, Carmelo · January 28, 2026 · 40 min
- How Did Venezuela’s Oil Riches End up in Swiss Banks? · December 5, 2023 · 40 min
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