First modification:
The Colombian-Venezuelan businessman Álex Saab, alleged figurehead of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was a collaborator of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency during 2018, according to court documents revealed this Wednesday, February 16. Saab is charged in the United States with conspiracy to launder money.
A judicial file revealed this Wednesday, February 16, assures that Alex Saab, the alleged close ally of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, secretly cooperated with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, in English) for almost a year from 2018 , providing agents with information about the bribes he paid to Venezuelan officials.
During the session in a federal court in Miami, United States, Saab agreed to be an “active law enforcement source” for the DEA. In addition, almost 10 million dollars in illegal profits that he obtained with state contracts were confiscated, as quoted by the AP news agency.
After the release, the defendant’s lawyers argued that his family in Venezuela could be imprisoned or suffer attacks by the Maduro government if his interactions with US authorities become known.
“They are under government control,” attorney Neil Schuster said at the hearing, the transcript of which was later revealed by Judge Robert Scola. “If the Government of Venezuela learns the extent of what this individual has provided, I have no doubt that there will be retaliation against his wife and his children.”
During the hearing, Schuster asked that Saab be released on bail after his cooperation with US authorities. However, Judge Scola rejected the idea, citing Saab’s attempts to evade extradition.
Details of Saab’s communication with US law enforcement have emerged in a case involving a University of Miami professor who acted as an intermediary when Saab made payments to his lawyers in the United States.
Another lawyer for the businessman, who is fighting for the Court of Appeals in Atlanta to recognize Saab’s status as a Venezuelan diplomat, rejected claims that his client had been cooperating with US investigators.
Saab has been detained in Miami since his extradition from Cape Verde in October of last year and his trial was scheduled for this Wednesday in October 2022.
For Maduro, Alex Saab was “kidnapped” by the United States
In one of the documents revealed this Wednesday, it is ensured that Alex Saab “cooperated with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), provided the DEA with information about his criminal activity, participated in proactive cooperation as a confidential source for the DEA and delivered money to the United States and the DEA as part of a self-surrender agreement in the United States to face charges for his criminal conduct.”
According to the document, cited by the EFE news agency, Saab’s cooperation in 2018 “included providing information on the bribes he paid and the crimes he committed.”
However, the businessman Saab ceased to be a DEA collaborator after failing to meet the deadline of May 30, 2019 to surrender, as AP assures. Two months later, he was sanctioned by the Trump administration and charged in federal court in Miami with diverting millions of dollars from state contracts to build social housing in Venezuela.
For the United States, Alex Saab is one of the main channels of corruption in Venezuela, since he also obtained enormous profits from dubious contracts to import food while millions of Venezuelans endured hunger.
In 2019, Saab was charged with money laundering and arrested in 2020 while refueling his plane on the West African island of Cape Verde on his way back from a trip to Iran. In October 2021 he was extradited by an arrest warrant from the United States, a measure that the government of Nicolás Maduro described as a kidnapping.
With AP, Reuters and EFE
First modification:
The Colombian-Venezuelan businessman Álex Saab, alleged figurehead of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was a collaborator of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency during 2018, according to court documents revealed this Wednesday, February 16. Saab is charged in the United States with conspiracy to launder money.
A judicial file revealed this Wednesday, February 16, assures that Alex Saab, the alleged close ally of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, secretly cooperated with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, in English) for almost a year from 2018 , providing agents with information about the bribes he paid to Venezuelan officials.
During the session in a federal court in Miami, United States, Saab agreed to be an “active law enforcement source” for the DEA. In addition, almost 10 million dollars in illegal profits that he obtained with state contracts were confiscated, as quoted by the AP news agency.
After the release, the defendant’s lawyers argued that his family in Venezuela could be imprisoned or suffer attacks by the Maduro government if his interactions with US authorities become known.
“They are under government control,” attorney Neil Schuster said at the hearing, the transcript of which was later revealed by Judge Robert Scola. “If the Government of Venezuela learns the extent of what this individual has provided, I have no doubt that there will be retaliation against his wife and his children.”
During the hearing, Schuster asked that Saab be released on bail after his cooperation with US authorities. However, Judge Scola rejected the idea, citing Saab’s attempts to evade extradition.
Details of Saab’s communication with US law enforcement have emerged in a case involving a University of Miami professor who acted as an intermediary when Saab made payments to his lawyers in the United States.
Another lawyer for the businessman, who is fighting for the Court of Appeals in Atlanta to recognize Saab’s status as a Venezuelan diplomat, rejected claims that his client had been cooperating with US investigators.
Saab has been detained in Miami since his extradition from Cape Verde in October of last year and his trial was scheduled for this Wednesday in October 2022.
For Maduro, Alex Saab was “kidnapped” by the United States
In one of the documents revealed this Wednesday, it is ensured that Alex Saab “cooperated with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), provided the DEA with information about his criminal activity, participated in proactive cooperation as a confidential source for the DEA and delivered money to the United States and the DEA as part of a self-surrender agreement in the United States to face charges for his criminal conduct.”
According to the document, cited by the EFE news agency, Saab’s cooperation in 2018 “included providing information on the bribes he paid and the crimes he committed.”
However, the businessman Saab ceased to be a DEA collaborator after failing to meet the deadline of May 30, 2019 to surrender, as AP assures. Two months later, he was sanctioned by the Trump administration and charged in federal court in Miami with diverting millions of dollars from state contracts to build social housing in Venezuela.
For the United States, Alex Saab is one of the main channels of corruption in Venezuela, since he also obtained enormous profits from dubious contracts to import food while millions of Venezuelans endured hunger.
In 2019, Saab was charged with money laundering and arrested in 2020 while refueling his plane on the West African island of Cape Verde on his way back from a trip to Iran. In October 2021 he was extradited by an arrest warrant from the United States, a measure that the government of Nicolás Maduro described as a kidnapping.
With AP, Reuters and EFE
First modification:
The Colombian-Venezuelan businessman Álex Saab, alleged figurehead of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was a collaborator of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency during 2018, according to court documents revealed this Wednesday, February 16. Saab is charged in the United States with conspiracy to launder money.
A judicial file revealed this Wednesday, February 16, assures that Alex Saab, the alleged close ally of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, secretly cooperated with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, in English) for almost a year from 2018 , providing agents with information about the bribes he paid to Venezuelan officials.
During the session in a federal court in Miami, United States, Saab agreed to be an “active law enforcement source” for the DEA. In addition, almost 10 million dollars in illegal profits that he obtained with state contracts were confiscated, as quoted by the AP news agency.
After the release, the defendant’s lawyers argued that his family in Venezuela could be imprisoned or suffer attacks by the Maduro government if his interactions with US authorities become known.
“They are under government control,” attorney Neil Schuster said at the hearing, the transcript of which was later revealed by Judge Robert Scola. “If the Government of Venezuela learns the extent of what this individual has provided, I have no doubt that there will be retaliation against his wife and his children.”
During the hearing, Schuster asked that Saab be released on bail after his cooperation with US authorities. However, Judge Scola rejected the idea, citing Saab’s attempts to evade extradition.
Details of Saab’s communication with US law enforcement have emerged in a case involving a University of Miami professor who acted as an intermediary when Saab made payments to his lawyers in the United States.
Another lawyer for the businessman, who is fighting for the Court of Appeals in Atlanta to recognize Saab’s status as a Venezuelan diplomat, rejected claims that his client had been cooperating with US investigators.
Saab has been detained in Miami since his extradition from Cape Verde in October of last year and his trial was scheduled for this Wednesday in October 2022.
For Maduro, Alex Saab was “kidnapped” by the United States
In one of the documents revealed this Wednesday, it is ensured that Alex Saab “cooperated with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), provided the DEA with information about his criminal activity, participated in proactive cooperation as a confidential source for the DEA and delivered money to the United States and the DEA as part of a self-surrender agreement in the United States to face charges for his criminal conduct.”
According to the document, cited by the EFE news agency, Saab’s cooperation in 2018 “included providing information on the bribes he paid and the crimes he committed.”
However, the businessman Saab ceased to be a DEA collaborator after failing to meet the deadline of May 30, 2019 to surrender, as AP assures. Two months later, he was sanctioned by the Trump administration and charged in federal court in Miami with diverting millions of dollars from state contracts to build social housing in Venezuela.
For the United States, Alex Saab is one of the main channels of corruption in Venezuela, since he also obtained enormous profits from dubious contracts to import food while millions of Venezuelans endured hunger.
In 2019, Saab was charged with money laundering and arrested in 2020 while refueling his plane on the West African island of Cape Verde on his way back from a trip to Iran. In October 2021 he was extradited by an arrest warrant from the United States, a measure that the government of Nicolás Maduro described as a kidnapping.
With AP, Reuters and EFE
First modification:
The Colombian-Venezuelan businessman Álex Saab, alleged figurehead of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was a collaborator of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency during 2018, according to court documents revealed this Wednesday, February 16. Saab is charged in the United States with conspiracy to launder money.
A judicial file revealed this Wednesday, February 16, assures that Alex Saab, the alleged close ally of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, secretly cooperated with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, in English) for almost a year from 2018 , providing agents with information about the bribes he paid to Venezuelan officials.
During the session in a federal court in Miami, United States, Saab agreed to be an “active law enforcement source” for the DEA. In addition, almost 10 million dollars in illegal profits that he obtained with state contracts were confiscated, as quoted by the AP news agency.
After the release, the defendant’s lawyers argued that his family in Venezuela could be imprisoned or suffer attacks by the Maduro government if his interactions with US authorities become known.
“They are under government control,” attorney Neil Schuster said at the hearing, the transcript of which was later revealed by Judge Robert Scola. “If the Government of Venezuela learns the extent of what this individual has provided, I have no doubt that there will be retaliation against his wife and his children.”
During the hearing, Schuster asked that Saab be released on bail after his cooperation with US authorities. However, Judge Scola rejected the idea, citing Saab’s attempts to evade extradition.
Details of Saab’s communication with US law enforcement have emerged in a case involving a University of Miami professor who acted as an intermediary when Saab made payments to his lawyers in the United States.
Another lawyer for the businessman, who is fighting for the Court of Appeals in Atlanta to recognize Saab’s status as a Venezuelan diplomat, rejected claims that his client had been cooperating with US investigators.
Saab has been detained in Miami since his extradition from Cape Verde in October of last year and his trial was scheduled for this Wednesday in October 2022.
For Maduro, Alex Saab was “kidnapped” by the United States
In one of the documents revealed this Wednesday, it is ensured that Alex Saab “cooperated with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), provided the DEA with information about his criminal activity, participated in proactive cooperation as a confidential source for the DEA and delivered money to the United States and the DEA as part of a self-surrender agreement in the United States to face charges for his criminal conduct.”
According to the document, cited by the EFE news agency, Saab’s cooperation in 2018 “included providing information on the bribes he paid and the crimes he committed.”
However, the businessman Saab ceased to be a DEA collaborator after failing to meet the deadline of May 30, 2019 to surrender, as AP assures. Two months later, he was sanctioned by the Trump administration and charged in federal court in Miami with diverting millions of dollars from state contracts to build social housing in Venezuela.
For the United States, Alex Saab is one of the main channels of corruption in Venezuela, since he also obtained enormous profits from dubious contracts to import food while millions of Venezuelans endured hunger.
In 2019, Saab was charged with money laundering and arrested in 2020 while refueling his plane on the West African island of Cape Verde on his way back from a trip to Iran. In October 2021 he was extradited by an arrest warrant from the United States, a measure that the government of Nicolás Maduro described as a kidnapping.
With AP, Reuters and EFE