US lifts sanctions on wives of Venezuela TV magnates

BOGOTA, Colombia – The U.S. Treasury Department is lifting sanctions on the wives of two Venezuelan TV magnates close to President Nicolas Maduro two months after their U.S. assets were frozen as part of a crackdown on corruption.

Maria Alexandra Perdomo and her husband Raul Gorrin were among seven individuals sanctioned in January for allegedly running a graft network that stole $2.4 billion from state coffers through corrupt currency deals.

Her removal from the blacklist on Tuesday along with the wife of Gorrin's brother-in-law and business partner Raul Perdomo suggests the two women may be cooperating with U.S. authorities trying to untangle the web of corruption that proliferated during two decades of socialist rule in Venezuela.

Prosecutors in Miami indicted Gorrin last year on charges of bribing Venezuelan officials.