A former Venezuelan minister and longtime ally of Nicolás Maduro, Alex Saab, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Miami to conspiring to launder money.
asserted
minister → plead → money
Saab admitted to profiting from at least six food and medicine contracts by approximately $195 million in an eight-page factual proffer.
asserted
Saab → admit → proffer
It is the latest turn in a story that reads like a mob movie.
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that → read → movie
U.S. officials called Saab, a Colombian-born businessman, Maduro's "bag man."
asserted
officials → call → Saab
In 2023, after being captured and extradited to the U.S., Saab received a full pardon from then-President Joe Biden amid a prisoner swap with Venezuela.
asserted
Saab → capture → Venezuela
Maduro welcomed him home as a hero and made him acting industry minister.
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him → welcome → hero
Now Saab has agreed to cooperate with investigators and may even serve as a state witness against his old boss.
uncertain
Saab → agree → boss
Under the plea agreement, Saab accepted a $195 million forfeiture judgment and agreed to disclose and help locate assets.
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Saab → accept → assets
He faces up to 20 years in prison.
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He → face → prison
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the applicable range and may seek a further reduction if they determine that Saab provided substantial assistance.
uncertain
Saab → agree → assistance
Saab returned to U.S. custody after acting dictator Delcy Rodríguez's regime deported him to the U.S. in May.
uncertain
regime → return → May
While the Venezuelan Constitution prohibits extraditing Venezuelan citizens, the regime's interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, claimed Saab's Venezuelan identity record was fraudulent or nonexistent—even though Maduro's regime had issued him a passport, calling him a diplomat.
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regime → prohibit → him
Before he became indispensable to Maduro, Saab was a little-known textile businessman in his native Barranquilla, a coastal city in Colombia.
asserted
Saab → become → Colombia
Former Colombian Sen. Piedad Córdoba, an ally of Hugo Chávez, helped Saab gain access to Venezuela while Maduro was foreign minister, according to investigative journalist Roberto Deniz.
uncertain
Maduro → help → Deniz
Córdoba has denied introducing him to Chávez or Maduro.
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Córdoba → deny → Chávez
In 2011, a Saab company entered a large public housing deal between Colombia and Venezuela despite, according to Deniz, having no construction experience.
uncertain
company → enter → experience
Saab and his business partner, Álvaro Pulido, received three to four times the homes' actual construction costs, the U.S. Department of the Treasury later said.
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Department → receive → Treasury
As Maduro consolidated power, Saab's business also expanded from housing into food contracts, and by 2019, a payment system involving Venezuelan oil, gold, and other natural resources.
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business → consolidate → oil
(PBS documentary A Dangerous Assignment traces Saab's fortune to a mansion in Barranquilla, private jets, a property on Rome's Via Condotti, and a Beverly Hills rental for his son Shadi while he pursued acting.)
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he → trace → acting
Saab's most consequential role involved CLAP, the state food program that Maduro created in 2016 amid shortages and inflation.
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Maduro → involve → shortages
The regime distributed boxes with groceries at subsidized prices.
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regime → distribute → prices
Most of the time, the boxes arrived late and contained poor-quality or even expired products, as Reason has previously reported.
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Reason → arrive → products
Regime officials also used access to the CLAP program to reward supporters and punish critics.
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officials → use → critics
The journalists at Armando.info, a Venezuelan investigative outlet, were the first to expose Saab's role in the food contracts.
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journalists → expose → contracts
Saab sued Deniz and three editors for defamation in 2017.
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Saab → sue → 2017
Facing harassment and possible jail time, they fled Venezuela.
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they → face → Venezuela
Authorities later raided the house of Deniz's parents.
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Authorities → raid → parents
In 2019, the Treasury alleged that Saab and his associates won overpriced, no-bid CLAP contracts through bribes and kickbacks, then moved the proceeds through shell companies.
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Saab → allege → companies
Saab has now admitted that the conspirators used fake companies, false invoices, and false shipping records.
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conspirators → admit → companies
They moved illegal payments through bank accounts in at least nine foreign jurisdictions.
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They → move → jurisdictions
Senior Venezuelan authorities approved, participated in, and protected the operation, according to the factual proffer.
uncertain
authorities → approve → proffer
Saab also admitted arranging millions of dollars in transfers toward $17 million in bribes and kickbacks promised to José Gregorio Vielma Mora, a former Chavista governor.
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Saab → admit → Mora
The payments were tied to a 2016 contract for 10 million food boxes.
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payments → tie → boxes
Authorities in Cabo Verde, an island nation off West Africa, detained Saab at the United States' request during a fuel stop in June 2020 while he was traveling to Iran.
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he → detain → Iran
After a 16-month legal fight, Cabo Verde extradited him to Miami in 2021.
asserted
Verde → extradite → 2021
That prosecution concerned an earlier housing and currency-exchange scheme in which Saab and Pulido were accused of laundering up to $350 million.
asserted
Saab → concern → million
Court records later showed that Saab had signed a cooperation agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2018, met with agents, provided information about Venezuelan corruption, and transferred $12.5 million to an account controlled by the agency.
asserted
Saab → show → agency
However, he missed a deadline to surrender.
asserted
he → miss → deadline
After the cooperation became public, Saab's lawyer David Rivkin said the Venezuelan regime knew about the contacts and that Saab met with U.S. officials to maintain that neither he nor his companies had done anything wrong.
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he → become → anything
In December 2023, Biden granted Saab the full, conditional pardon.
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Biden → grant → pardon
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
