Former minister Alex Saab, considered the frontman for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has pleaded guilty to money laundering, among other crimes, after reaching an agreement with the United States Prosecutor’s Office during a hearing held this Tuesday before a federal court in Miami.
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The Colombian businessman, deported to the United States last May, has also admitted his guilt on a charge of illicit financial transactions before District Judge Kathleen Williams, and accepted the payment of a $195 million fine. He faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Maduro’s trusted man has thus changed his statement from July 24, in exchange for cooperating with U.S. authorities in the case against the president on charges related to drug trafficking, according to information from the news agency Bloomberg.
Read more Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering in the U.S. and agrees to hand over US$195 million
Saab’s extradition to the United States was authorized by Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who decided to relieve him of his various positions just weeks after the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in January of this year. Both will be tried in June 2027.
Saab, 54, had already been imprisoned for more than three years in the North American country for alleged money laundering. He was arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020 following a U.S. request and extradited in October 2021. Subsequently, he was released after an agreement between Washington and Caracas, which also included the release of 10 U.S. citizens held in Venezuela.
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