Maduro’s side loses appeal over control of Venezuelan gold in England

The London Court of Appeal has rejected this Friday an appeal by the board of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) appointed by Nicolás Maduro against a ruling of July 29, 2022 that granted the other board appointed by the opposition authority over gold deposited in the Bank of England.

The three judges have dismissed the arguments presented in hearings on May 23 and 24 by the board of Maduro’s BCV, which questioned the decision of Judge Sara Cockerill not to accept as valid rulings of the Supreme Court of Caracas that declared null and void the appointments to institutions made by the then opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

In their opinion, to which EFE has had access, the magistrates point out that Cockerill was right to discard these sentences, because accepting them would have violated the English doctrine of “One only voice” -which forces the Government and the judiciary to act unified in foreign policy-, given that at that time London recognized Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela.

The judges found that, when this politician -today dismissed from office- appointed the members of his “ad hoc” board of the BCV, the United Kingdom Government “recognized him as interim president” from the country.

In the context of this litigation, those appointments “are not affected by the fact that, since January 2023, the British Government no longer recognizes it” in that position, from which he was removed by his opposition colleagues in December 2022.

The judges conclude that the rulings of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice that annul Guaidó’s decisions “cannot be recognized or applied by the courts of the United Kingdom because doing so would conflict with the opinion of the Executive” at that time.

They add that the decisions of the opposition leader while he was recognized as president by London must be interpreted by the British Justice as “sovereign acts”.

Although he has lost this appeal, the legal team of the official BCV board, chaired by Calixto Ortega, is considering filing a new lawsuit before the commercial division of the High Court to claim his authority over Venezuelan assets now that Guaidó is no longer recognized by the United Kingdom as president.

“This appeal was filed before Juan Guaidó was removed from Venezuela’s supposed interim presidency by his own opposition, and was largely outpaced by the changing situation on the ground.”, Sarosh Zaiwalla, from the Zaiwalla & Co law firm, which represents the board of Maduro’s BCV, explained this Friday.

“The next step, as the Court of Appeal has stated, is for the commercial court to consider the impact of these circumstances.” including the fact that the United Kingdom “has withdrawn its recognition of Guaidó”, in access to the 31 tons of gold retained in the Bank of England, it adds in a statement.

“In the absence of formal recognition from the British government (which does not recognize Guaidó but neither does Maduro)”, the court must determine “who should be considered the ruler of Venezuela”, points out this lawyer.

In the coming days, a hearing is expected in the commercial room to agree on how to proceed in this lawsuit, legal sources have indicated.

In its ruling today, the Court of Appeals found that “It will be up to the commercial court to determine the future course of this dispute, in light of the change in outlook resulting from the fact that His Majesty’s Government no longer recognizes Guaidó as President of Venezuela.”.

The object of this dispute is access to Venezuelan gold reserves worth some US$1.95 billion deposited in the Bank of England, as well as an additional sum of US$120 million as a result of an exchange executed by Deutsche Bank.

Source: EFE