Maduro ally Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering, fraud
Alex Saab pleads guilty in US court to laundering bribe and fraud proceeds linked to Venezuela's welfare programme.
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.
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.