The Daily Journal.- Venezuela’s former Minister of Industries, Alex Saab, appeared this Monday before a federal court in the Southern District of Florida after a new formal indictment against him was unsealed and following his deportation from Caracas last Saturday.
U.S. authorities have charged him with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, linked to the alleged diversion of resources from Venezuela’s public food assistance programs and the illegal commercialization of crude oil belonging to the state-owned company PDVSA, a fraudulent operation that allegedly continued through at least January 2026.
According to court records, U.S. prosecutors maintain that Saab conspired to bribe Venezuelan public officials in order to secure contracts related to the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP) program.
The indictment details that the defendant allegedly used shell companies, fraudulent invoices, and falsified shipping records to declare fictitious imports from Colombia and Mexico, enabling the extraction of funds originally intended for assistance to vulnerable populations.
Federal investigative agencies issued strong statements following Saab’s initial court appearance. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the defendant “will be prosecuted and held fully accountable under U.S. law for his alleged role in this scheme.”
Likewise, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division A. Tysen Duva alleged that the accused “used U.S. banks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from a Venezuelan food program intended for the poor, as well as profits derived from the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil.”
Expansion of the Commercial Scheme and Use of PDVSA
The judicial file reveals that beginning in 2019, the financial conspiracy expanded its commercial operations to evade the impact of economic sanctions restricting the Republic’s energy exports. According to the prosecution’s filing, amid the country’s severe financial difficulties in meeting its foreign debt obligations—including pending payments to Saab connected to the CLAP program—the defendants allegedly exploited their ties to the public sector to gain irregular access to crude oil shipments from Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and market them under false pretenses, later moving the proceeds through the U.S. banking system.
For his part, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones defended the territorial jurisdiction of Miami courts to prosecute these white-collar crimes.
“This indictment alleges that a humanitarian food program intended to support vulnerable Venezuelans was instead manipulated for massive personal enrichment,” the prosecutor argued, adding that “when illicit profits move through the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will act.”
Capture Operation
Saab’s arrest and indictment are the result of operations carried out by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), a federal intelligence coalition established under Executive Order 14159 to combat transnational criminal organizations and complex financial networks. Operational efforts involved agents from the DEA’s Miami Field Division, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
DEA Administrator Terrance Cole linked the operation to his agency’s commitment to “dismantling corrupt networks operating throughout Venezuela,” emphasizing that investigative tracking efforts made it possible to place Saab once again before the U.S. justice system.
The criminal case will be coordinated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo of the Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Asset Forfeiture Section.
If convicted by the U.S. District Court in Miami, Alex Saab faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in a federal prison in the United States.
