Maduro ally Alex Saab is accused of money laundering after being deported from Venezuela
Saab is accused of using the US financial system to hide and move hundreds of millions of dollars from
Former Colombian minister and businessman Alex Saab, identified as the alleged name of Nicolás Maduro, was formally accused this Monday of money laundering before a federal court in Miami, where he will also face charges of financial conspiracy linked to Chavismo's public contracts and oil operations.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Saab, 54, is accused of using the US financial system to hide and move hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly coming from corruption, irregular contracts and operations related to the CLAP food program in Venezuela.
During the hearing held in the Southern District of Florida, Saab appeared “handcuffed and in a prison uniform,” according to the Associated Press agency. Judge Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein ordered that he remain detained without bail until a new hearing scheduled for June 24.
Deputy Attorney General Andrew Tysen Duva said in a statement that “Alex Saab allegedly used US banks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from a Venezuelan food program intended for the poor and from proceeds from the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil.”
US authorities maintain that the businessman would have used “ghost companies, fraudulent invoices, falsified shipping records and other fabricated documents” to divert Venezuelan public resources and pay bribes to officials close to the government of Nicolás Maduro.
The accusation also indicates that the alleged corruption network expanded "from 2019 until at least January 2026", taking advantage of the international sanctions imposed on Venezuela and the control of operations linked to the state oil company PDVSA.
Saab had already faced legal proceedings in the United States. In 2020 he was detained in Cape Verde during an air stopover and later extradited to Miami in 2021. However, in 2023 he was released by the administration of then-President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.
After his return to Caracas, Saab was appointed Minister of Industries and National Production by the government of Nicolás Maduro. However, after the fall of the Chavista leader in January 2026 and the arrival of Delcy Rodríguez to interim power, the businessman lost political influence and was finally deported to the United States.