A key associate of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been deported from Venezuela to the United States to face federal charges. Venezuelan authorities say Alex Nain Saab Moran, 55, from Colombia, is accused of running a significant money laundering and bribery operation tied to Venezuela’s food assistance program and oil sector. Saab, who previously served as a minister under Maduro, made his appearance in federal court in Miami recently. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Prosecutors contend that Saab orchestrated a scheme starting around 2015, which aimed to defraud humanitarian initiatives intended to supply food to struggling Venezuelans. Allegedly, he and his collaborators facilitated the sale of Venezuelan state oil, skirting U.S. sanctions, with the Justice Department suggesting that they funneled the profits through American bank accounts to hide their activities.
Assistant Attorney General A. Theisen Duba remarked that Saab is under investigation for supposedly using U.S. banks to launder considerable sums taken from Venezuela’s food programs and the illegal oil trade. “This is unacceptable,” Duba stated, emphasizing that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation will address foreign nationals misusing the U.S. financial system.
Saab’s group reportedly bribed Venezuelan officials to secure contracts linked to the CLAP welfare program, which is supposed to distribute food to impoverished citizens. Instead of fulfilling these promises, they allegedly created shell companies, manipulated invoices, and falsified shipping documents to embezzle funds for personal gain.
Further allegations suggest that beginning in 2019, Saab’s network took advantage of corrupt connections to access significant oil reserves owned by the Venezuelan National Oil Company as U.S. sanctions hindered Venezuela’s oil exports, significantly impacting its finances. The group purportedly sold oil deceptively and utilized the sales’ proceeds to sustain their fraudulent food program.
Reportedly, Saab laundered the money through American banks, establishing jurisdiction for U.S. legal proceedings. U.S. Attorney Jason A. Redding Quiñones confirmed that any proceeds moving through the U.S. financial system would trigger action from federal authorities.
Initially indicted in the U.S. in 2019, Saab was extradited from Cape Verde in 2021 and granted a pardon by President Biden in 2023 during a prisoner swap. However, prosecutors claim that the new charges involve behavior that doesn’t qualify for the pardon.
A representative for Saab declined to provide comments on the situation. If found guilty, he could face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, with the government also pursuing the confiscation of assets and profits linked to the alleged illicit activities.
This investigation was conducted by the U.S. Homeland Security Task Force, which includes agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
