More than 70 metric tons of Venezuelan gold worth over $2.2 billion were routed through Curaçao and refined in Switzerland between 2012 and 2018, despite evidence the metal originated in conflict-affected mining areas in Venezuela, according to an OCCRP investigation published Thursday. 

Invoices, bank records, court depositions, emails, and other data reviewed by the investigative-news organization indicate the gold moved through the Caribbean island before reaching Argor-Heraeus, one of the world’s largest gold refineries. Experts who reviewed the refinery’s own smelting results said the chemical profile suggested at least some of the material came from mines, not only recycled sources such as scrap jewelry as Argor-Heraeus has maintained. 

An upstream supplier testified in court that the supply chain was designed to bypass the refinery’s compliance processes, OCCRP said. Lawyers for Argor-Heraeus told the outlet the company did not process mined Venezuelan gold and stopped importing Venezuelan gold in 2017. 

The case exposes weaknesses in global gold-trade oversight, including rules that at the time did not require refiners to trace scrap gold beyond their immediate suppliers, according to OCCRP. The report also cited a 2025 European Commission assessment that found the London Bullion Market Association’s responsible gold guidance only partially aligned with EU regulations. 

While Venezuelan gold wasn’t targeted by sanctions at the time, the country’s gold-mining sector was globally known for documented instances of human-rights violations, corruption, and environmental damage, prompting major refineries to informally blacklist related supply chains.  

“Gold exploited in southern Venezuela is tainted by the most severe human rights abuses, including torture, summary executions, sexual violence and disappearances,” Bram Ebus, a researcher with the International Crisis Group, said in the report. 

According to OCCRP, refined gold from Argor-Heraeus later entered supply chains disclosed by hundreds of U.S.-listed companies, including Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla, raising questions about whether gold tied to abuse-ridden Venezuelan mining zones may have ended up in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. Even in that scenario, however, the public companies would not have any insight into the questionable origins of the metal.

“Once the refiner has put it into those shiny gold bars that have their stamp on them, then it becomes legitimate and you lose all traceability and it flows into the international monetary system, into consumer electronics and jewelry and everything else,” Quinn Kepes, senior program director in the Raw Materials Programs Department at the nonprofit Verité, told OCCRP. 

Read more at OCCRP