Partners from two offices of Reed Smith have taken on a complex case against the Republic of Venezuela that alleges the wrongful seizure of communications and other assets totaling more than one billion dollars nearly a decade ago.

Acting on behalf of Venezuela-born investor Fernando Fraiz Trapote and his wife, Maria Clara Vallejo Tascon, the Reed Smith team argues that the government of Nicolás Maduro expropriated the couple’s assets largely via a sham judicial proceeding in 2014.