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The Colombian businessman Alex Saab, identified as the main financial operator of chavismo and frontman for the ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, appeared this Monday before the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Federal Court in Miami, where he was formally charged with money laundering and conspiracy to engage in illicit financial transactions.
The Southern District of Florida brought charges against Saab, 54, for conspiracy to commit money laundering and for concealing and disguising the source of funds, just two days after he landed at the Opa-locka Executive Airport in Miami-Dade County, escorted by DEA agents.
The indictment, presented by prosecutor Monique Botero and assistant prosecutor Joseph Palazzo, alleges that Saab used U.S. banks, shell companies, and fraudulent documentation to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from contracts under the Venezuelan food program CLAP and the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil, in a conspiracy that is said to have spanned from at least 2019 to January 2026.
If found guilty, Saab faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Judge Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein ordered that he remains in custody without the possibility of bail until June 24, as reported during the hearing.
This is the second time Saab has faced U.S. justice. He was arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020 during a stopover on his way to Iran and extradited to the U.S. in October 2021, but the trial never took place.
In December 2023, the then-president Joe Biden included him in a prisoner exchange with Venezuela—without having been convicted—in exchange for the release of 10 American citizens detained in that country.
Saab returned to Caracas welcomed as a hero by Maduro and was appointed in January 2024 as president of the International Productive Investment Center, and in October of that year as minister of Industry and National Production.
His downfall accelerated after the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026. The interim president Delcy Rodríguez dismissed him as minister on January 17, and on February 4, he was arrested in Venezuela during a joint operation between SEBIN and the FBI, remaining detained at El Helicoide.
Venezuela handed Saab over to the United States as part of ongoing diplomatic negotiations between Washington and the interim government of Caracas, in a broader agreement that also included the release of all American citizens detained in Venezuela on January 31, 2026.
The Venezuelan government justified the deportation by arguing that Saab does not hold Venezuelan nationality.
Rodríguez stated that this is "an administrative measure justified by national interests" and affirmed that "Alex Saab is a citizen of Colombian origin who held positions in Venezuela. Now these matters are only between the United States and Alex Saab."
Diosdado Cabello was more emphatic in his justification for Saab's deportation, stating that the businessman had been holding a fraudulent Venezuelan ID since 2004 with no backing in the SAIME, and invoked Article 271 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which prohibits denying the deportation of foreigners responsible for money laundering.
The strategic value of Saab to Washington lies in his knowledge of the financial architecture of chavismo, which is considered crucial for the criminal cases opened against Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in New York for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
The investigation is being led by the DEA Field Division in Miami, with support from the FBI Miami and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (HSI) of the city.
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