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A Miami federal court brought a decade of investigative reporting to a close on Wednesday as Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab pleaded guilty to money laundering—years after Venezuelan news outlet Armando.info first began uncovering his state corruption schemes.
Saab, a top financial ally of ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, admitted to using the U.S. financial system to launder bribes connected to Venezuela’s Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP)—a state program meant to distribute food to impoverished communities. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and has agreed to forfeit $195 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The guilty plea serves as a vindication for Armando.info, a local investigative news outlet and OCCRP member center. More than nine years ago, the outlet pioneered reporting that brought Saab out of the shadows, exposing his ties to multimillion-dollar state contracts and the delivery of low-quality food to vulnerable populations.
At the time, Saab and the Maduro government vehemently denied the links. Saab sued the Armando.info team in Venezuela, arguing he had no connection to the CLAP program.
"The lawsuit was an attempt to censor us, to silence us… He knew everything we said was true," Roberto Deniz, a journalist and editor at Armando.info, told OCCRP. Calling Wednesday's plea the end of a public narrative built to protect the businessman, Deniz added: "It is the end of a charade, a farce… Now he told the truth."
Saab’s legal entanglements in the U.S. originally stemmed from a separate 2019 indictment. Federal prosecutors charged Saab alongside his business partner, Álvaro Pulido Vargas, with laundering over $350 million diverted from a Venezuelan state contract to build low-income housing. Following his 2020 arrest in Cape Verde and subsequent extradition to Miami in 2021, Caracas mounted an aggressive diplomatic campaign—granting Saab diplomatic status, labeling his detention a "kidnapping," and claiming he was securing goods to bypass U.S. sanctions.
In December 2023, President Joe Biden granted Saab a pardon amidst diplomatic negotiations to secure the release of seven Americans imprisoned in Venezuela. Among the freed U.S. citizens were Joseph Cristella, Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, and Savoi Wright.
In addition to the Americans, Venezuela also released fugitive Leonard Glenn Francis, also known as “Fat Leonard,” who was implicated in the U.S. Navy’s largest corruption scandal in history. Francis had bribed officers in exchange for ship-servicing contracts, overbilling the Navy by more than $35 million.
Upon his return to Caracas, Saab was greeted personally by Maduro, who publicly hailed him on social media as a "brave and patriotic man who resisted with dignity a 1,280-day kidnapping." Saab was welcomed with honors and appointed Minister of Industry and National Production.
However, his fortunes reversed again following the collapse of the Maduro regime this past January. Venezuela's interim government, led by Delcy Rodríguez, deported Saab back to the United States, alleging he had committed fraud involving his identity documents.
