Cisneros camp admits mismanagement, investment failures across business empire

A legal source working for Mireya Blavia de Cisneros, widow of Venezuelan tycoon Oswaldo Cisneros, has acknowledged that the family's businesses suffered from serious mismanagement, lack of investment and failures to fulfil commitments made to the government, attributing the problems in part to US sanctions on Venezuela's financial system.

Speaking by telephone, the source said they were aware of the ongoing scrutiny of the widow and would fully cooperate with the authorities.

The admission comes as authoritative government sources say her empire, including Digitel, Venezuela's leading telecommunications operator, and interests in real estate, oil and other sectors, faces growing scrutiny. It extends to personal and corporate tax liabilities, failures to meet major investment commitments stretching back more than a decade, and sham adoptions allegedly designed to alter control of the family trust and deprive rightful heirs of their share.

A senior official described a pattern across telecoms, real estate and oil, alleging that investment never materialised in any sector and that the family treated major businesses as sources of cash, looting the economy while leaving obligations unfulfilled. Officials also allege bribes were used to bend regulatory and government systems, and that her arrangements benefited from her close association with Nicolás Maduro, who ruled from 2013 until US forces captured him in Caracas in January 2026 on narco-terrorism and cocaine-trafficking conspiracy charges.

According to Bloomberg, the Petroleum Ministry recently revoked DP Delta's minority participation, alleging unmet investment and production commitments and huge profits made through political bribes to Maduro and his associates. Authorities allege the family was to provide over $1 billion under a 2016 contract but provided nothing, and that output meant to roughly triple to 115,000 barrels per day was around 9,000 in July 2026. Cisneros had appeared beside Maduro promoting the DP Delta Finance arrangement, due to run until early 2027.

A senior Venezuelan government official alleged a corrupt scheme run through bribes, claimed clear evidence of her ties to narco and cocaine-trafficking gangs, and said law enforcement was examining her funding of elements still loyal to Maduro. Another official, speaking anonymously, alleged she personally managed the corrupt relationship and funded Maduro's establishment.

Digitel, which Oswaldo Cisneros turned into one of the country's principal mobile operators before his widow took a leading role after his death, faces questions over investment, commitments and taxes. An official alleged the family "only looted and plundered without investing anything, while making wild excuses."

Another official alleged she was seriously in default on tax obligations. SENIAT valued the estate at over $10 billion, with the state's 30 per cent share exceeding $3 billion, and there is no record of payment, the official alleged, adding that fake adoptions were used to gain majority control of the trust. Supreme Court records show she and the heirs became involved in proceedings over the estate, and a senior official said investigators had identified bribes and gifts linked to telecoms and real-estate contracts.

A former senior executive who acted on her behalf alleged the owners treated the businesses as a "cash cow," ignoring nearly 10 years of warnings, while chronic underfunding hurt operations, working conditions and employees.