Former Maduro ally pleads guilty to money laundering and fraud

Alex Saab pleads guilty in US court to laundering bribe and fraud proceeds linked to Venezuela’s welfare programme.Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and close ally of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, pleaded guilty in a US federal court to laundering proceeds from a bribery and fraud scheme.Saab, a former Venezuelan minister of industry, admitted on Tuesday before US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami to organising a system of bribes to Venezuelan officials, enabling companies he secretly controlled to win government contracts to import food and medicine.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Who is Alejandro Betancourt, ex-Chavez ally now Trump’s Venezuela oil man?list 2 of 3The US is gobbling up Venezuelan oil, but will it lower fuel prices?list 3 of 3US oil giant Chevron to expand Venezuela operationsend of listAccording to the US Justice Department, the fraudulent contracts fell under CLAP, a Venezuelan welfare programme meant to distribute subsidised food to the public during the country’s economic collapse.The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement that Saab and his associates “used fake companies, false invoices and fraudulent shipping records to skim hundreds of millions of dollars” meant for public benefit, later laundering the proceeds through shell companies abroad, including in the United States.Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said that Saab “created a complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme, win lucrative public contracts, and line his own pockets as well as his conspirators”.Saab also admitted exploiting his ties to Venezuelan officials to gain access to oil owned by state firm PDVSA, selling it under false pretences as US sanctions squeezed the country’s finances.