A U.S. judge on Monday set a Nov. 1 arraignment date for Alex Saab, a businessman accused of laundering money on behalf of Venezuela’s government, in a case that pits the United States against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
By Reuters – Brian Ellsworth and Alexandra Ulmer
Oct 19, 2021
U.S. prosecutors in 2019 charged Saab in connection with a bribery scheme linked to Venezuela’s state-controlled exchange rate. They have accused Saab and an ally of siphoning around $350 million out of Venezuela and into overseas accounts via the United States.
Washington has also imposed sanctions on Saab over accusations he orchestrated a scheme that enabled him and Maduro to profit from a state-run food distribution program.
Saab’s lawyers have called the U.S. charges “politically motivated.”
Saab, a 49-year old Colombian national, was arrested in June 2020 when his plane stopped to refuel in Cape Verde. The country’s courts approved his extradition following a lengthy legal battle.
Saab appeared during an initial hearing in an orange jumpsuit and blue face mask via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan in Miami on Monday.
Saab’s lawyer, Henry Bell, asked for the arraignment to be scheduled in two weeks, citing the need to brief his client as well as a pending appeal that says Saab was wrongfully arrested as he had diplomatic immunity.
Over the weekend in Caracas, Saab’s wife Camilla told a small government-led protest that her husband would fight the charges against him.
“My husband Alex Saab will never break down, never,” she said through tears, in a video posted online.
Following Saab’s extradition, Venezuela on Saturday said it would suspend talks with the opposition, citing its “deepest protest” against the treatment of Saab. In a televised speech on Monday, Maduro said he was “outraged” by Saab’s extradition and that he would evaluate what to do with the talks “later.”
Venezuela also revoked the house arrest of six former executives of refiner Citgo, a U.S. subsidiary of state oil company PDVSA, two sources and a family member told Reuters. The former executives were brought to one of the headquarters of the intelligence police, two sources said.
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