CARACAS, Venezuela — It was a haul that might have even given Santa Claus pause: 3.8 million toys, seized by Venezuela’s government on the grounds that their owners were hoarding castles and kiddie cars ahead of Christmas.

Now the government will be the one giving the toys away this year.

“This is a criminal act because it’s a violation of the rights of children,” said William Contreras, the head of the country’s consumer protection commission, on the president’s television show this week. He added that the government would correct the misdeed by handing the toys to pro-government committees “so girls and boys in Venezuela have their toys guaranteed.”

Mr. Contreras charged that Kreisel, an established Venezuelan toy distributor, planned to raise the prices by 24,000 percent — part of a scheme in which the government said the company was underreporting inventory to sell its merchandise at higher prices. Two Kreisel executives have been arrested, the authorities said.

It was the latest example of President Nicolás Maduro’s government fighting what it calls an “economic war” that it claims is being waged by business owners.