CARLOS RAMOS Diputado de la Asamblea Nacional por el Estado Merida

Caracas, 04 de October de 2011

Dear Ms Marand and Mr Haikewitsch,

EI Nacional, which is one of Venezuela's leading newspapers, reported on 17 July, that Gemalto de Mexico had been contracted by a Cuban company called ALBET, to the tune of USD $40,500,000, for the provision of IDs to the government of Venezuela. The alleged contract between Gemalto de Mexico and ALBET can be read, in Spanish, following this link: http://infovenezuela.org/170711_ctarjetas.pdf The contract is meant to have been signed on 20 August 2008. Given the amount of the contract, and the sensible nature of the services provided, one would be forgiven for thinking that Gemalto would boast about it in its annual reports. However, I could not find any indication in Gemalto's annual reports of 2008, 2009, or indeed 2010, about the contract between ALBET and Gemalto de Mexico, which is described in your reports as a Gemalto 100% owned subsidiary. This of course raises a few issues, given that Gemalto is a publicly traded cOr(1pany. To be frank, we do not care about how Gemalto conducts his business, where or how declares its income, where or how pays its taxes, etc. What we do care about is the fact that Gemalto de Mexico seems to have been subcontracted by a Cuban firm in violation to Venezuela's legislation, and, as a consequence, may have received, in case the contract is legitimate and has been acted upon, millions of dollars of Venezuelans tax payers' money illegally. Therefore, I should be most grateful if you could answer a few questions about the issues raised above, for an ongoing investigation that I am spearheading in Venezuela's Congress: 1- Did Gemalto de Mexico, represented by Messrs. Arnaud Jean Loic and Martin Djunte Ghomsi, signed a contract with ALBET in Havana, as specified in the contract?
,

Esquina de Pajaritos. Edit. Jose Maria Vargas. Piso 2. Region Merida. Caracas. Telf (s). (0212j Celltral 409.76.09.

409.76.19.

CARLOS RAMOS Diputado de la Asamblea Nacional por el Estado Merida

2- If it did, what due diligence was made by Gemalto de Mexico with regards to

whether ALBET had the power to enter into contracts for the provision of IDs to the government of Venezuela? 3- If it did, how much has Gemalto de Mexico received to date (in USD), as per contractual clauses?

4- If it did, what has Gemalto de Mexico delivered, as per contractual clauses?

5- Why would a multinational, publicly traded company, like Gemalto, not contract their services directly with the Venezuelan government?

Cordially yours,

"

EsqHina

de Pajaritos. Edit. Jose Marfa Vargas, Piso 2. Region Merida. Caracas. Telt (5). (0212j 409.76.19. Central 409.76.09.