Charges Filed Against Alex Saab in Connection with Venezuelan Welfare Program
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought charges against Alex Saab, an associate of Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela. Saab, who previously served as the country’s Minister of Industry and National Production, faced his first court appearance in Florida on Monday, where he was charged with money laundering related to welfare programs.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Redding Quiñones, stated, “This indictment alleges that a humanitarian food program intended to assist vulnerable Venezuelans was instead manipulated for large-scale personal enrichment.”
The indictment claims that from 2015 to 2026, Saab was involved in corrupting the Local Labor Production Committee (CLAP), a public welfare program, to financially benefit himself and his associates. Details on other co-conspirators are kept confidential in the indictment.
As per court documents, Saab and collaborators allegedly bribed officials to secure CLAP contracts for importing food from countries like Colombia and Mexico, doing so under misleading circumstances.
According to the indictment, “Rather than fulfill the contract in full, the conspirators used fake companies, false invoices, false shipping records, other fraudulent documents, bribes and kickbacks to steal for themselves hundreds of millions of dollars that would have been used to buy food for impoverished Venezuelans.”
Additionally, it is claimed that some of these illicit gains were funneled through U.S. bank accounts to mask their origins. The defendants are also accused of leveraging their status with Venezuelan officials to misrepresent sales of billions of dollars worth of oil belonging to the state-run Petróleos de Venezuela between 2019 and 2026, particularly as U.S. sanctions intensified.
Terrence Cole, DEA Administrator, remarked that the agency has been investigating financial crimes linked to Saab and the Maduro administration for an extensive period.
If found guilty of conspiracy to launder financial instruments, Saab faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison. He was extradited from Cape Verde to the U.S. in 2021 on similar charges but was pardoned by President Joe Biden in December 2023 during a notable prisoner exchange, leading to his return to Venezuela.
