Top Maduro Ally Extradited to US: Unveiling a Billion-Dollar Corruption Scandal in Oil & Food Programs

Venezuela has deported a key associate of former President Nicolás Maduro to the United States, where he faces federal charges. Venezuelan authorities confirmed the deportation of Alex Nain Saab Moran, accused of orchestrating a vast money laundering and bribery operation linked to the nation’s state-run food program and oil sector.

Saab, a 55-year-old Colombian national and ex-minister of industry and national production under Maduro, made his first appearance in a Miami federal court on Monday, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The Justice Department emphasized that Saab is considered innocent until proven guilty in court.

According to prosecutors, Saab masterminded a long-standing fraudulent scheme that began around 2015, aiming to exploit a humanitarian initiative designed to supply food to Venezuela’s needy population.

It is further alleged that Saab and his collaborators engaged in the illicit sale of Venezuelan oil worth billions, circumventing U.S. sanctions. Authorities claim the profits were funneled through American banks to obscure the transactions and perpetuate the fraudulent activity.

“Alex Saab is charged with using U.S. banks to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars from a Venezuelan food program intended for the impoverished and from illicit Venezuelan oil sales,” stated Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva. “This behavior is intolerable. The Criminal Division will not permit foreign entities to exploit the U.S. financial system as a refuge for the proceeds of their corruption.”

Beginning around 2015, Saab and his associates allegedly paid bribes to Venezuelan government officials to secure contracts tied to the country’s CLAP welfare program, which was intended to purchase and distribute food to vulnerable and impoverished Venezuelans. 

Instead of delivering the promised food supplies, prosecutors allege the group used shell companies, fraudulent invoices and falsified shipping records to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from the program for their own personal gain.

Around 2019, as sweeping U.S. sanctions crippled Venezuela’s oil exports and placed severe strain on the country’s finances, including its ability to pay Saab and his associates under the CLAP program, Saab and his partners allegedly exploited their corrupt ties to government officials to gain access to billions of dollars’ worth of oil owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil company. 

Officials allege the group sold the oil under false pretenses and used the profits to sustain and expand the original food fraud scheme.

Saab and his associates reportedly laundered the allegedly stolen funds through U.S. bank accounts in an effort to conceal the money trail, giving American authorities jurisdiction to prosecute the case.

“When illicit proceeds are moved through the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will act,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) shakes hands with Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab in Caracas on January 15, 2024. (FEDERICO PARRA/AFP)

Saab was previously indicted in the U.S. in 2019 and extradited from Cabo Verde in 2021. He was pardoned by President Biden in 2023 as part of a prisoner swap, though prosecutors say the new case involves alleged conduct not covered by that pardon.

A Miami-based attorney for Saab declined to comment to The Associated Press.

If convicted, Saab faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The government is also seeking forfeiture of any property or proceeds allegedly obtained through the alleged criminal activity.

The case was investigated by a U.S. Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

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