Venezuela sells off $400M in gold amid sanctions: report

Venezuela has reportedly sold about $400 million in gold amid economic sanctions the U.S. has placed on the country. 

Bloomberg News, citing two people with knowledge of the matter, reported the sale on Monday.

{mosads}According to Bloomberg, the gold sale could indicate that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has found a way to work around sanctions placed on his regime.

The U.S., which has recognized Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the nation’s true president, in recent months has levied sanctions against Maduro’s government. That included sanctions against Venezuela’s state-run gold mining company Minerven, which Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin accused of “propping up the inner circle of the corrupt Maduro regime.”

Bloomberg noted Monday that the gold sale was reflected by a drop in the central bank’s total reserves. The drop could also indicate that the central bank is writing off gold that it can’t access because of sanctions.

An official with the central bank didn’t immediately comment to Bloomberg on Monday.