Alex Saab, a former industry minister in the regime of former President Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to launder proceeds of a massive bribery and fraud scheme in Venezuela and the United States.
Mr Saab, who hired Nigerian social media influencers to campaign against his arrest, was extradited from Cape Verde to the U.S. to face charges bordering on money laundering in 2021.
U.S. district judge Kathleen M. Williams in Miami heard Mr Saab’s plea on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement, adding that he carried out a nearly decade-long conspiracy to corruptly profit from a Venezuelan public welfare program for food and medicine known as Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP).
According to court documents, Mr Saab, 54, of Caracas, Venezuela, admitted to organising a system of bribes and other illegal payments to public officials so entities secretly controlled by the conspirators could be awarded lucrative contracts from the Venezuelan government to import food and medicine under the auspices of the CLAP.
Mr Saab further admitted that he used shell companies outside of Venezuela to launder proceeds of the conspiracy around the world, including to the United States, the DOJ stated.
Though a sentencing date has not been scheduled, Mr Saab now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Federal Bureau of Investigation czar Kash Patel said, “Criminals like Alex Saab, who stole from the people of Venezuela and worked to exploit and misuse American financial institutions to fund illicit activities, will be held accountable by this FBI.”