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.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, gestures as Alex Saab, then head of Venezuela's International Center for Productive Investment, speaks during a march marking the 65th anniversary of the overthrow of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 23, 2024 [File: Javier Campos/Getty Images]

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.

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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.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement that Saab and his associates “used fake companies, false invoices and fraudulent shipping records to skim hundreds of millions of dollars” meant for public benefit, later laundering the proceeds through shell companies abroad, including in the United States.

Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said that Saab “created a complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme, win lucrative public contracts, and line his own pockets as well as his conspirators”.

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.

Saab pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

As part of the plea deal, he agreed to forfeit $195m in criminal proceeds and to cooperate with continuing federal investigations. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the range, and to seek further reductions if his cooperation proves substantial.

A sentencing date has not been set.

The case marks Saab’s second prosecution in the US. He was first arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited to face similar charges, before former US President Joe Biden granted him clemency in December 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.

A new indictment followed in January, and Saab was deported to the US in May by Venezuela’s interim government under pressure from Washington, months after the US removed Maduro from power and brought him to US soil.

US Attorney Jason Reding Quinones said the case “sends a clear message: political connections, wealth and proximity to a corrupt regime will not put anyone beyond the reach of American justice”.

亚历克斯·萨博在美国法庭上承认洗钱，罪名是洗钱与委内瑞拉福利计划有关的贿赂和欺诈所得。

2024年1月23日，在委内瑞拉首都加拉加斯举行的纪念马科斯·佩雷斯·希门尼斯被推翻65周年的游行中，委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗（左）向时任委内瑞拉国际生产性投资中心负责人亚历克斯·萨博发表讲话。[图片：Javier Campos/Getty Images]

哥伦比亚裔委内瑞拉商人、委内瑞拉前总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗的亲密盟友亚历克斯·萨博在美国联邦法院承认洗钱罪，该罪名源于贿赂和欺诈计划。

委内瑞拉前工业部长萨博周二在迈阿密美国地区法官凯瑟琳·威廉姆斯面前承认，他组织了一套向委内瑞拉官员行贿的系统，使他秘密控制的公司能够赢得政府合同，进口食品和药品。

列表 1/3：亚历杭德罗·贝坦科特是谁？他曾是查韦斯的盟友，现在是特朗普的委内瑞拉石油大亨。

列表 2/3：美国正在大量购买委内瑞拉石油，但这会降低燃油价格吗？

美国石油巨头雪佛龙公司计划扩大委内瑞拉业务（共3项，此为第3项）。

据美国司法部称，这些欺诈性合同属于委内瑞拉的 CLAP 计划，该计划是委内瑞拉的一项福利计划，旨在该国经济崩溃期间向公众分发补贴食品。

美国佛罗里达州南区检察官办公室在一份声明中表示，萨博及其同伙“利用虚假公司、虚假发票和欺诈性运输记录，窃取了数亿美元的公共利益资金”，然后通过包括美国在内的海外空壳公司洗钱。

司法部刑事司助理司法部长 A Tysen Duva 表示，萨博“创建了一个由空壳公司、空壳账户和虚假记录组成的复杂网络，以延续他的阴谋，赢得利润丰厚的公共合同，并中饱私囊，同时让他的同谋获利”。

萨博还承认，他利用自己与委内瑞拉官员的关系，获取了委内瑞拉国家石油公司（PDVSA）拥有的石油，并在美国制裁挤压该国财政之际，以虚假借口出售了这些石油。

萨博承认犯有一项串谋洗钱罪，最高可判处 20 年监禁。

作为认罪协议的一部分，他同意放弃1.95亿美元的犯罪所得，并配合联邦政府的调查。检方同意建议判处最低刑期，如果他的合作被证明是实质性的，则寻求进一步减刑。

尚未确定宣判日期。

这是萨博第二次在美国被起诉。他于 2020 年在佛得角首次被捕，并被引渡到美国面临类似的指控。2023 年 12 月，作为与委内瑞拉交换囚犯的一部分，美国前总统乔·拜登给予了他赦免。

1 月份，委内瑞拉政府再次提起诉讼，在华盛顿的压力下，委内瑞拉临时政府于 5 月份将萨博驱逐回美国。此前几个月，美国推翻了马杜罗政权，并将他带回美国。

美国检察官杰森·雷丁·奎诺内斯表示，此案“传递了一个明确的信息：政治关系、财富以及与腐败政权的密切联系，都不能使任何人逃脱美国司法的制裁”。