Former Maduro ally pleads guilty to money laundering and fraud

Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and close ally of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, pleaded guilty in a US federal court to laundering proceeds from a bribery and fraud scheme.

Saab, a former Venezuelan minister of industry, admitted on Tuesday before US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami to organising a system of bribes to Venezuelan officials, enabling companies he secretly controlled to win government contracts to import food and medicine.

According to the US Justice Department, the fraudulent contracts fell under CLAP, a Venezuelan welfare programme meant to distribute subsidised food to the public during the country’s economic collapse.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement that Saab and his associates “used fake companies, false invoices and fraudulent shipping records to skim hundreds of millions of dollars” meant for public benefit, later laundering the proceeds through shell companies abroad, including in the United States.

Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said that Saab “created a complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme, win lucrative public contracts, and line his own pockets as well as his conspirators”.

Saab also admitted exploiting his ties to Venezuelan officials to gain access to oil owned by state firm PDVSA, selling it under false pretences as US sanctions squeezed the country’s finances.

Saab pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

As part of the plea deal, he agreed to forfeit $195m in criminal proceeds and to cooperate with continuing federal investigations. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the range, and to seek further reductions if his cooperation proves substantial.

A sentencing date has not been set.

The case marks Saab’s second prosecution in the US. He was first arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited to face similar charges, before former US President Joe Biden granted him clemency in December 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.

A new indictment followed in January, and Saab was deported to the US in May by Venezuela’s interim government under pressure from Washington, months after the US removed Maduro from power and brought him to US soil.

US Attorney Jason Reding Quinones said the case “sends a clear message: political connections, wealth and proximity to a corrupt regime will not put anyone beyond the reach of American justice”.