MIAMI (AP) — U.S. federal marshals are getting ready to auction off Wednesday a cargo of 100,000 barrels of gasoline that have been floating in a tanker off the Gulf Coast of Texas for two months amid a high-stakes legal fight over American sanctions on Venezuela. The dispute pits one of Greece’s most powerful businessmen and owner of popular soccer club Olympiakos against a fellow shipping magnate from Venezuela who has a history of helping out the country’s socialist leaders. The ship was hired to transport the gasoline to a ship near Aruba but along the way its owners suspected the cargo’s real destination was Venezuela and turned back to avoid potentially violating sanctions. A federal judge in Houston agreed and seized the cargo while arbitration continues.
