Nervis Villalobos, a former deputy minister of energy in Venezuela, denies having carried a message offering a bribe from electricity contractor Derwick Associates to Venezuela Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez.
The allegation against Villalobos appears in a lawsuit filed a week ago by Otto Reich against two principals of Derwick and an alleged associate of theirs. Villalobos called in response to my request for comment on the case.
“I know Derwick very well,” he said. Later, he said “they aren’t unknown to me.” He said it was possible that he had flown in a jet belonging to the company, adding that he flies at times on rented jets and that he doesn’t always know who owns them.
He said he “hasn’t had anything to do with PDVSA, the Ministry, or anything like that” since he left government in 2006. He said his government service left him unable to open a US bank account, and that his name has shown up in several news articles, but that the accusations are false. He doesn’t usually respond because “if one starts to defend oneself against every attack, one ends up going crazy.”
Villalobos said his work usually consists of feasibility studies and other consulting work in the Venezuelan electricity industry.
Setty's notebook 
He sounds like he’s nervous (sorry, couldn’t stop myself)
This has got to be a joke, eh Setty? Mind you, former public servant admitting without qualms that, erm, he flies in rented jets, he just doesn’t know the owners. So the question is quite simple really: how can a former public servant afford it? Where did he get the money to pay for such luxuries, or as we say in Venezuela, con qué culo se sienta la cucaracha?
‘Nervous’ Villalobos was in charge of the govt’s power generation/transmission investment projects until roughly 2006. ‘Nervous’ bears the largest share of blame for the fact that all of the power sector’s projects were delayed for many years, a tactic that appears to have been deliberate because it was necessary to create a critical power sector crisis in order to grease the skids for the humongous corruption engineered through Derwick associates and others close to this band of thieves. ‘Nervous’ always has been near the center of the corruption that characterizes the govt’s management of the state-run power sector. He is very deeply involved with the Boli-Chicos, a fact which has been documented several years ago (if memory serves) by U Noticias. ‘Nervous’ cannot open a US bank account or get a US visa because the US govt long ago confirmed that he is crooked. Nervis Villalobos is a liar. He is corrupt. He is a thief. Nothing lasts forever, not even the putrid Boludarian regime of Nicky Ripe and first bride Silly Flowers, who themselves have yet to face justice for their direct participation in the planning of the massacre perpetrated by Chavista thugs on 11 April 2012.