Former Venezuelan minister and Colombian businessman Alex Saab pleaded “not guilty” this Friday to money laundering and other charges, through his lawyers, during a court hearing in Miami (USA) which he did not attend.

Saab, identified by US authorities as an alleged front man for the deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, was formally accused today of money laundering and conspiracy to carry out financial transactions, as well as concealing and disguising the origin of the funds.

Defense requests that the case be tried by a jury

During a very brief hearing in federal court in downtown Miami, his lawyers entered a not guilty plea before Judge Lauren F. Louis and requested that the case be tried by a jury.

The judge did not set a new date for the trial and possible requests for bail were not discussed either.

Saab, born in Colombia 54 years ago, had already appeared in court for the first time on May 18, two days after being deported from Venezuela to the United States.

Considered a close ally of Maduro, Saab had previously faced money laundering charges in the United States. After being arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited to US territory, he was released in 2023 during the Joe Biden Government (2021-2025) as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.

Later, he returned to Caracas, where he was appointed Minister of Industries and National Production.

His deportation to the United States occurred after the US operation on January 3 that led to the capture in Caracas of Maduro, who remains in New York facing charges related to drug trafficking.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores appeared this Wednesday in a federal court in New York, where the judge in charge proposed that the trial begin in June 2027.