Alex Saab Faces U.S. Court on Money Laundering Charges Linked to Maduro

Alex Saab, the ex-minister of industry for Venezuela and a key associate of deposed President Nicolás Maduro, stood before a U.S. federal court in Miami on Monday to face charges of money laundering and acting as a front for Maduro.

The 54-year-old Colombian businessman was indicted for overseeing a network that exploited a Venezuelan subsidized food assistance program to embezzle funds, according to the Miami court.

Allegations of Money Laundering and Corruption

Tyson Dova, U.S. Assistant Attorney General, stated that Saab allegedly used American banks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from a Venezuelan food program aimed at helping the poor, as well as proceeds from illicit Venezuelan oil sales.

Saab was deported from Venezuela to the United States on Saturday. He had been politically active in Venezuela during the final years of Hugo Chávez's presidency.

Political Career and Legal History

During Maduro’s rule, Saab was accused of serving as a frontman and laundering money but was granted Venezuelan citizenship and a diplomatic passport.

After being sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019, Saab was arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited to the United States the following year. However, he was released in 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Venezuela.

In 2024, Saab was appointed Venezuela’s Minister of Industry. Yet, following the arrest of Maduro by U.S. forces in Caracas earlier this year, acting President Delcy Rodríguez dismissed Saab from all his positions.