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A close associate of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been deported by Venezuela to the United States, according to Venezuelan officials, to face charges accusing him of orchestrating a money laundering and bribery scheme related to Venezuela’s state-run food program and oil industry.
Alex Nain Saab Moran, 55, of Colombia, who was the minister of industry and national production under the Maduro regime, appeared in federal court in Miami on Monday, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of South Florida. The Justice Department said Saab is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutors allege that Saab led a year-long scheme starting in 2015 to defraud a humanitarian aid program meant to provide food to impoverished Venezuelans.
He and his associates are accused of selling Venezuelan government oil worth billions of dollars while evading US sanctions, according to the Justice Department. Authorities say the proceeds were transferred to American bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the transaction and further the scheme.
MADURO ALLY ALEX SAAB ARRESTED FOR LIVING WITH US-VEZUELAN, SAYS MAJOR
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) speaks to supporters next to Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab during a rally in Caracas on January 23, 2024. (GABRIELA ORAA/AFP via Getty Images)
“Alex Saab allegedly used American banks to defraud hundreds of millions of dollars that were stolen from the Venezuelan food program intended for the poor and proceeds from the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva in a statement. “This is unacceptable. The Criminal Division will not allow foreign actors to exploit the US financial system and use it as a safe haven for their corrupt profits.”
Beginning in 2015, Saab and his associates allegedly paid bribes to Venezuelan government officials to obtain contracts related to the country’s CLAP welfare program, which was intended to purchase and distribute food to vulnerable and impoverished Venezuelans.
Instead of delivering the promised food, prosecutors say the group used shell companies, fake invoices and falsified shipping records to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars from the scheme for its own profits.
MGCINIMA TARGETED OIL DEALERS, TANKERS SUSPECTED OF HELPING MADURO AVOID THEIR DOGS
Businessman Alex Saab walks in the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Around 2019, as the alarming US sanctions crippled oil exports to Venezuela and put serious strain on the country’s finances, including its ability to pay Saab and its partners under the CLAP program, Saab and its partners allegedly exploited their corrupt relationships with government officials to gain access to the Venezuelan company’s billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil.
Officials say the group sold the oil under false pretenses and used the profits to continue expanding the original food smuggling scheme.
Saab and his associates reportedly siphoned the alleged stolen money from American bank accounts in order to hide the trail of the money, and give American authorities the power to prosecute the case.
“When ill-gotten gains are funneled into the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will take action,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) shakes hands with Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab in Caracas on January 15, 2024. (FEDERICO PARRA/AFP)
Saab was indicted in the US in 2019 and extradited to Cabo Verde in 2021. He was pardoned by President Biden in 2023 as part of a prisoner swap, although prosecutors say the new case involves alleged conduct that could not be covered by that pardon.
A Miami representative for Saab declined to comment to The Associated Press.
If convicted, Saab faces up to 20 years in state prison. The government is also seeking the forfeiture of any property or proceeds allegedly obtained from the alleged crime.
The case was investigated by the US Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
