Alex Nain Saab Morán, a 54-year-old Colombian businessman and former Minister of Industry under the Venezuelan Chavista regime, pleaded guilty this Tuesday in a federal court in Miami to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, in a scheme of bribery and fraud that for nearly a decade plundered the Venezuelan food and medicine distribution program known as CLAP.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the statement was heard by federal judge Kathleen M. Williams in the Southern District of Florida. Saab faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, although the sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court documents, Saab organized a bribery scheme involving Venezuelan public officials to allow entities secretly controlled by the conspirators to obtain government contracts under CLAP, a program for distributing subsidized food and medicine boxes to the population. The contracts were not fulfilled in their entirety; instead, those involved resorted to shell companies, fake invoices, and fraudulent shipping records to divert hundreds of millions of dollars.
Saab also admitted to using shell companies outside of Venezuela to move illicit profits globally, including through the U.S. financial system. The plea agreement includes the forfeiture of 195 million dollars in criminal gains, in addition to his cooperation with federal prosecutors in investigations against four unidentified co-defendants.
The federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, Jason A. Reding Quiñones, emphasized the trajectory of the case: "In December 2023, President Biden granted clemency to Alex Saab while he awaited trial in this district, and Saab was released from federal custody and returned to Venezuela. But that was not the conclusion of the story. Our office built a new criminal case, secured a new indictment in January 2026, and, working with our federal and international partners, brought Saab back before a federal court in Miami on May 18."
The FBI Director, Kash Patel, was emphatic: "Criminals like Alex Saab, who stole from the Venezuelan people and worked to exploit and misuse U.S. financial institutions, will be held accountable by this FBI."
The judicial history of Saab is extensive. He was first charged in July 2019 by prosecutors from the Southern District of Florida in a money laundering case linked to the CLAP for approximately 350 million dollars. He was detained in Cape Verde in June 2020 during a layover and was extradited to the United States in October 2021. Two years later, President Biden granted him executive clemency as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela, and Saab returned to Caracas in December 2023.
The outlook changed dramatically after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January 2026. The interim president Delcy Rodríguez dismissed Saab from his duties that same month and later authorized his deportation to the United States on May 16, 2026. Saab appeared in Miami court two days later under a new charge, initially pleading not guilty in July, and this Tuesday changed his plea.
The new accusation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force, an initiative launched by President Trump through executive order to dismantle transnational criminal networks. The case is being investigated by the DEA, the FBI, and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), all based in Miami.
The DEA administrator, Terry Cole, described the plea agreement as "a significant disruption of the illicit financial networks that support narcoterrorism and political corruption," and warned that pressure on those who operated alongside chavismo will not relent.
Related videos:
Filed under: