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Alex Saab, considered by many to be the financial fixer for former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and front man for him in business transactions, plead guilty to a $195 million money laundering charge in a federal court in Miami on Tuesday and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. investigators that have been trying to bring down the Maduro regime for years.
Saab, who has maintained a low profile in recent years, will be sentenced at a later date and will forfeit approximately $195 million that the U.S. government alleges he made through corruption. He had been indicted by the U.S. in 2019 on money laundering charges for his role in helping Maduro's regime siphon off millions of dollars in oil revenue and launder it through various front companies and accounts. Saab had maintained his innocence and rejected corruption allegations, and had pleaded not guilty when he was re-extradited to the U.S. in May after being released from a Venezuelan prison as part of a prisoner exchange. He had been originally extradited from Cape Verde to the U.S. in 2021, reported AP.
Saab was returned to Venezuela in December 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange between Caracas and Colombia. Saab was re-extradited to the U.S. in May and is being prosecuted by the same U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors who had sought to bring him to justice five years earlier. Throughout his odyssey, Saab was treated with respect by the Maduro regime, which saw him as a quasi-diplomatic figure and argued that his detention was politically motivated. U.S. prosecutors have always described Saab as nothing more than a corrupt businessman.
The testimony provided by the businessman could be pivotal to the Justice Department in their efforts to uncover the corruption in the Maduro regime. Saab's dealings with high ranking officials of the chavista government could be crucial in the ongoing investigation of the Venezuelan president, who has been indicted by a federal grand jury on narco-terrorism charges, and his wife as well as other high-ranking officials in the regime.
The collapse of Venezuela under the rule of Maduro has caused millions of Venezuelan citizens to flee their home in search of safety and better opportunities. Many of these individuals have ended up at the US southern border seeking entry into the country. Maduro and his regime have conducted business as usual by looting the state through various means including oil deals, front companies, and manipulation of currency. Additionally, the regime has attempted to evade economic sanctions put in place by the US in order to continue lining their pockets.
This is potentially one of the biggest developments in DOJ's efforts to hold accountable the Maduro regime, and the team in the Venezuela Unit has been building towards this moment for years. They finally have a cooperating witness who was inside the machine.
