Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering and agrees to cooperate with US authorities

Alex Saab, Venezuela's former Minister of Industry and one of the closest associates of Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty to money laundering on Tuesday in a federal court in Miami, after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors.

Saab, who had been extradited to the United States in May and had initially pleaded "not guilty" on July 24, has now changed his plea in exchange for cooperating with federal investigations, according to court documents cited by AFP.

Reuters confirmed that Saab admitted to participating in a money-laundering conspiracy and that, as part of the plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit $195 million linked to the scheme under investigation and to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors.

The Associated Press also reported that Saab pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering related to an alleged bribery scheme aimed at securing lucrative government contracts in Venezuela. The agreement also provides for the company's cooperation in ongoing federal investigations.

Venezuelan food and oil contracts

The new case against Saab relates to operations that U.S. authorities link to government contracts for the importation of food and the Venezuelan oil sector.

The Department of Justice reported in May, when it announced his arrest and the charges against him, that Saab allegedly conspired with others to bribe Venezuelan officials in order to secure contracts under the Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP) program, created to distribute food to vulnerable sectors of the Venezuelan population.

According to the indictment, Saab and his associates allegedly manipulated documentation and misrepresented the origin and characteristics of food imported from countries such as Colombia and Mexico.

U.S. authorities also investigated operations related to the sale of oil by the state-owned PDVSA and a network of companies used to channel funds out of Venezuela, according to the AP.

From Maduro's key ally to U.S. collaborator

Saab, a businessman born in Colombia, became one of the leading financial figures linked to the Maduro regime over the years.

Washington had previously accused him of using international companies and bank accounts to move hundreds of millions of dollars obtained through Venezuelan government contracts.

He was arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and subsequently extradited to the United States, although in December 2023, then-President Joe Biden granted him clemency as part of an exchange that led to the release of U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.

However, a subsequent investigation allowed prosecutors to file new charges for conduct that, according to authorities, was not covered by that clemency measure. AP notes that Saab had been under investigation for years as one of the main financial intermediaries in Maduro's inner circle.

In May 2026, he was again taken into U.S. custody and formally charged in the Southern District of Florida.