The businessman Alex Saab , linked to the government of Nicolás Maduro , has been handed over to the United States, where he faces corruption charges , as reported this Saturday by the national radio of Cape Verde.
Saab is accused in the United States of money laundering charges and was identified in an investigation by the Armando.info portal as the main responsible of a corruption scheme in the subsidized food program of the Venezuelan government known as CLAP (Local Committees of Supply and Production). He had been detained in Cape Verde, an archipelago in West Africa, since 12 June 2019, at the request of the US.
The Venezuelan government issued a statement denouncing the “kidnapping” of Saab by the United States government “in complicity with the Cape Verdean authorities, who arbitrarily tortured and held him prisoner during days”.
Jorge Rodríguez, head of the government delegation in the negotiations opened with the opposition in Mexico, announced that, after the delivery of Saab, the government suspended their participation in that dialogue process.
The opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized as interim president of Venezuela by Washington, congratulated himself because “those who turned hunger into a weapon of social control and in a business today they answer to justice. ”
The state authorities Nidense accuse Saab of money laundering and of serving as a front man for Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, in a wide network of drug trafficking, dollar laundering and the fraudulent award of millionaire official contracts.
After his arrest, the Venezuelan government assured that Saab is a diplomat who was traveling on an official mission and has insistently demanded his release.
What accusations Saab faces
In July 2019, the US Department of Justice filed charges against Saab and another Colombian businessman, Álvaro Enrique Pulido, for allegedly having laundered up to $ 350 million dollars that would have been obtained through the exchange control system in Venezuela.
He was also He accuses of having amassed a fortune with the contracts linked to the CLAP program that he would have hidden in a network of front companies in countries such as Turkey, Panama, C olombia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. His lawyers have always maintained that the accusations were “politically motivated.”
Saab was arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020, when he was heading towards Iran. Later, the Venezuelan government claimed that he was in a diplomatic mission in Caracas.
If convicted in the United States, Saab could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Various information have indicated that the businessman, of Colombian origin, is very close to Nicolás Maduro and other senior Chavista leaders sanctioned by the United States or accused before the courts of that country, which is why there has been speculation with the possible potential of a hypothetical collaboration of Saab with the US authorities.
The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, who does not recognize the Maduro government, celebrated in a Trill the news of Saab’s extradition.
Alex Saab’s extradition is a triumph in the fight against drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption that has led to the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. Colombia has supported and will continue to support the US in an investigation against a transnational crime network led by Saab.
– Iván Duque 🇨🇴 (@IvanDuque) October 16, 2021
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download the latest version of our app and activate them so as not to miss our best content.