Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a key ally of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is set to change his plea in a U.S. corruption case this Tuesday. He was previously charged with conspiring to launder monetary instruments and pleaded not guilty in July. Prosecutors allege that Saab stole millions of dollars from a welfare program intended to feed needy Venezuelans, transferring some of the proceeds to U.S. bank accounts. He was initially detained in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited in 2021 on money laundering charges for allegedly siphoning $350 million out of Venezuela through a bribery scheme.
Saab was deported in May by Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, reportedly under pressure from the United States. He faces a single count of money laundering related to a conspiracy to create fake companies, falsify shipping records, and skim from government contracts designed to import food from Colombia and Mexico. U.S. officials have labeled Saab as Maduro's "bag man" and may seek his testimony against the former president, who is awaiting trial on drug charges.
This new prosecution of Saab and Maduro is unfolding as the Trump administration shifts its focus towards Venezuela's vast oil reserves. President Trump recently announced a major oil deal with Venezuelan oil entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt, which will grant the U.S. government a stake and access to cost-price crude shipments from oil fields potentially holding 65 billion barrels. Saab gained significant notoriety only after his initial arrest in 2020, prompting a robust campaign by Maduro's government to advocate for his release, with then-Vice President Rodríguez characterizing him as an "innocent Venezuelan diplomat" who was unlawfully "kidnapped" by the U.S.
However, following Maduro's capture, Rodríguez distanced herself from Saab, removing him from her cabinet and his role as a primary intermediary for foreign investments in Venezuela. Saab accumulated a substantial fortune through Venezuelan government contracts, becoming even more crucial to Maduro as U.S. sanctions compelled Venezuela to conduct much of its oil sales and international trade outside traditional Western financial systems. The current indictment claims Saab and others established a network of companies to bribe high-ranking Venezuelan officials controlling contracts for the CLAP program, which was established by Maduro to provide essential staples like rice, corn flour, and cooking oil to impoverished Venezuelans amidst hyperinflation and a collapsing currency. Prosecutors further allege that this conspiracy allowed Saab and his associates to extend their corrupt influence deep within the Maduro government, accessing billions of dollars from the state-owned oil company PDVSA's oil sales.
