But with the noose of US sanctions growing ever tighter, Maduro struggled to find buyers. Which is where a mysterious Turkish gold broker came into play.

In a report published Friday, Bloomberg revealed the role played by Sardes, a Turkish gold broker with just $1 million in assets, which sprang into existence shortly after Maduro visited Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Founded in January 2018, Sardes quickly saw the volume of gold it was handling explode. Shortly after it opened for business, Sardes imported $41 million of Venezuelan gold - the first such transaction involving Turkey and Venezuela in more than 50 years. The following month, it imported $100 million more.