Former Venezuelan oil czar arrested in corruption probe [Video]

• Tareck El Aissami, the once-powerful minister in charge of Venezuela’s rich oil reserves, has been arrested.
• El Aissami, who resigned last year, is set to appear in court for the first time on Tuesday on charges including money laundering, criminal association and treason.
• El Aissami’s resignation came just days before the arrests of several other senior officials in the socialist government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela’s once powerful oil minister, who resigned unexpectedly last year as prosecutors probed corruption and other wrongdoing at the highest levels of the state-run crude industry, has been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme that siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from state coffers, the government announced Tuesday.

The Ministry of Communications released images of Tareck El Aissami being handcuffed and walking down a hallway flanked by officers. Attorney General Tarek William Saab told reporters that El Aissami will make his first court appearance Tuesday on charges that …