Alex Saab, a close ally of Nicolás Maduro, expects to plead guilty on Tuesday in a federal case for money laundering. The case accuses him of bribing government officials to win lucrative food import contracts at a time when Venezuela is facing an economic crisis.
Change of Plea Hearing
Alex Saab is set to appear before Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami on Tuesday. Details of his plea have not been immediately released, and Saab's attorney, Neil Schuster, has declined to comment on the matter.
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Saab's Case History
Saab was deported in May by interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez due to U.S. pressure. The United States has been investigating this Colombian-born businessman for over a decade. He has been charged with one count of money laundering related to an alleged conspiracy to create fake companies, forge shipping records, and defraud government contracts for food imports from Colombia and Mexico.
Saab, 54, was previously charged with a similar offense during Trump's first term in 2019 and was arrested during a refueling stop in Cape Verde. The Venezuelan government described this trip as a humanitarian mission to Iran.
However, Joe Biden pardoned him in 2023 to secure the release of several American prisoners in Venezuela. This agreement was part of the Biden administration's unsuccessful effort to persuade Maduro to hold a free presidential election and was heavily criticized by Republicans and federal law enforcement officials. They quickly launched new investigations into Saab for other reasons.
U.S. officials have long described Saab as Maduro's "assistant" and may ask him to testify as a character witness against the former president, who is awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges in Manhattan. Maduro was arrested in January during a U.S. military operation.
The new U.S. case against Saab and Maduro comes as the Trump administration is reassessing its relations with Venezuela and focusing on how to exploit the country's vast oil reserves. This month, Trump announced an agreement described as "the largest oil deal in world history" in Venezuela, under which the federal government would gain ownership of a new company with drilling rights in oil fields that have the potential to produce 65 billion barrels of oil.
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Source: abcnews.com
