Newly released records reveal that financier Jeffrey Epstein purchased oil bonds from Venezuela’s state-run petroleum company, acting on advice from Francisco D’Agostino, a businessman now wanted in Venezuela for money laundering and criminal association.
Emails included in documents made public by the U.S. Department of Justice indicate that D’Agostino visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean, a location tied to sex trafficking allegations against the late financier.
The correspondence shows D’Agostino guiding Epstein on acquiring bonds from Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). After their discussions, Epstein bought at least $4.5 million in these bonds starting in 2012, with a maturity date of 2015. This period coincided with a sharp decline in Venezuela’s oil revenue, rising corruption within PDVSA, and falling production.
D’Agostino, who holds dual Venezuelan and Spanish citizenship, did not respond to requests for comment. Efforts to reach a lawyer who represented him in Italy also went unanswered. PDVSA did not provide a response before publication.
The relationship between the two men appears to have started informally. Emails reference D’Agostino’s visit to Epstein’s Little Saint James island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, sometimes called “Little Saint Jeff’s.” In a note from October 2012, D’Agostino wrote about enjoying his time there, mentioning a young woman and expressing interest in exploring money-making opportunities together.
In the same month, D’Agostino proposed meetings in Caracas, suggesting he had significant access to Venezuela’s political and business elite. One figure he offered to introduce Epstein to was Baldo Sansó, a financial adviser to PDVSA and brother-in-law of Rafael Ramírez, then head of the state oil company. Sansó did not reply to inquiries.
Epstein appeared to delay any travel to Venezuela until after the October 2012 presidential election. When D’Agostino informed him that President Hugo Chávez had secured a fourth term, Epstein responded with a brief “Great.”
As Chávez’s health declined due to cancer, D’Agostino kept Epstein updated. In a December 2012 email, he predicted Chávez had about six months to live and speculated that a less radical figure from the Chávez movement might win a subsequent election.
Epstein invited D’Agostino back to his island in early 2013, and D’Agostino responded with a remark about the young woman from their earlier meeting.
Chávez died on March 5, 2013. Nicolás Maduro, his loyalist, won the election the following month. It remains unclear if Epstein ever made his planned visit to Caracas.
Over the next two years, Epstein increased his investments in Venezuelan oil by ordering more PDVSA bonds. Meanwhile, the industry struggled, with oil revenues dropping 40% from 2014 to 2015 due to low prices and corruption. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in 2019.
That same year, Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. He died in his jail cell in New York City, with his death ruled a suicide.
D’Agostino later faced scrutiny. Among the influential figures he offered to introduce to Epstein was Alejandro Betancourt López, co-founder of Derwick Associates. Derwick secured contracts to build power plants from Venezuelan state companies without competitive bidding, reportedly overcharging the government by $2.9 billion. Betancourt has denied wrongdoing.
In 2012, D’Agostino arranged for himself and Betancourt to meet Epstein. Multiple lawsuits later linked D’Agostino to Derwick’s operations, including a 2013 civil suit alleging bribery and racketeering, which was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
D’Agostino has consistently denied any role at Derwick and has not been convicted of fraud. In 2024, Spain’s National Court reportedly opened an investigation into former Derwick executives, including D’Agostino.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned D’Agostino in 2021 for alleged ties to sanctions evasion networks but removed him from the list last year. In January 2026, he was arrested on a Venezuelan warrant at the Italy-France border on charges of money laundering and criminal association, but was released after Italian judges deemed he risked inhumane treatment if sent to Venezuela.