Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering in Miami federal court

Cooperation deal could yield testimony against Maduro in New York case

Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman and former Venezuelan minister described as Nicolás Maduro’s chief financial intermediary, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Miami federal court to conspiracy to commit money laundering and unlawful financial transactions, according to United Press International.

The plea came before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, the same court where Saab had pleaded not guilty on July 22, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo and NTN24 reported. Saab, 54, had been preparing for a jury trial scheduled for November but changed his plea under an agreement with U.S. prosecutors.

Under the plea agreement, Saab admitted to money laundering and to conspiring to create shell companies, divert funds from contracts with the Venezuelan government, and falsify records. The Justice Department’s case alleges he operated a multimillion-dollar fraud and bribery scheme between 2015 and 2019, in which prosecutors said he used the U.S. banking system to launder money diverted from public funds intended for Venezuela’s subsidized food program, known by its Spanish acronym CLAP, which provides food to low-income Venezuelans.

As part of his agreement, Saab committed to cooperate fully with ongoing federal investigations, Telemundo reported. His cooperation could have implications for Maduro, who is being held in a New York prison awaiting federal trial on charges of narcoterrorism, drug trafficking and weapons offenses. The agreement also includes commitments to provide information about other unidentified co-defendants linked to Maduro’s political circle and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores.

Saab’s cooperation could make him a significant witness in the federal case against Maduro, his former political ally. Univision and ABC7 Los Angeles reported that Saab had extensive knowledge of the finances of Maduro’s inner circle, and that his guilty plea and cooperation agreement could provide prosecutors with information relevant to the former Venezuelan leader’s federal case.

According to those reports, Saab served as a key financial operator for Maduro’s government. After international sanctions were imposed on Venezuela, he allegedly helped establish alternative channels to move billions of dollars outside the Western financial system. His firsthand testimony could provide federal prosecutors with evidence about whether Maduro was directly connected to the movement of illicit funds allegedly linked to organized criminal activity.

Saab was extradited to the United States in mid-May by the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez, marking the second time the businessman had been in U.S. custody. He was first arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 at the request of the U.S. government while traveling to Iran, and was released in December 2023 by the Biden administration as part of a prisoner exchange. After returning to Venezuela, Maduro appointed him minister of industries and national production.

Saab was returned to U.S. custody in May after Venezuela’s interim government under Delcy Rodríguez sent him to face the criminal probes, as MSI previously reported. His guilty plea on Tuesday closes the latest chapter in a U.S. prosecution that has tracked him since his 2020 arrest in Cape Verde.