By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN
MIAMI (AP) — Lower than three years after President Joe Biden pardoned a detailed ally of Nicolás Maduro, the Justice Division is as soon as once more focusing on the businessman, The Related Press has discovered, an investigation that would bolster the U.S. prosecution of the deposed Venezuelan chief.
Federal prosecutors for months have been digging into Alex Saab’s function in an alleged bribery conspiracy involving Venezuelan authorities contracts to import meals, in response to two former regulation enforcement officers who spoke to AP concerning the ongoing probe on the situation of anonymity.
Saab, 54, amassed a fortune by Venezuelan authorities contracts. However the Colombian-born businessman, lengthy described by U.S. officers as Maduro’s “bag man,” fell out of favor with the nation’s new management that took energy following the U.S. ouster of the Venezuelan president final month.
The Justice Division’s newfound curiosity in Saab is happening in opposition to the backdrop of the Trump administration’s efforts to stabilize relations with the oil-rich nation. The investigation stems from a 2021 case the Justice Division introduced in opposition to Saab’s longtime accomplice, Alvaro Pulido, the previous regulation enforcement officers stated. That prosecution, out of Miami, facilities across the so-called CLAP program arrange by Maduro to offer staples — rice, corn flour, cooking oil — to poor Venezuelans struggling to feed themselves at a time of rampant hyperinflation and a crumbling foreign money.
The renewed scrutiny marks a reversal of fortunes for Saab, who escaped an earlier U.S. prosecution for an unrelated bribery scheme after Biden pardoned him as a part of a prisoner swap for a number of People jailed in Venezuela.
His whereabouts remained unknown Tuesday, days after conflicting information accounts advised he had been detained or introduced in for questioning – a minimum of briefly – by officers in Venezuela on the request of the Trump administration.
Neither U.S. officers nor appearing President Delcy Rodriguez’s authorities has commented. Luigi Giuliano, an Italian legal professional, stated he met Saab final week within the Venezuelan capital and denied he was detained however declined additional remark. Saab’s U.S. legal professional, Neil Schuster, additionally didn’t remark.
Since taking on from Maduro on Jan. 3, Rodríguez has demoted Saab, firing him from her cupboard and stripping him of his function as the primary conduit for international firms seeking to put money into Venezuela.
Biden pardons Saab over objections by regulation enforcement
Over the objections of regulation enforcement, Biden in 2023 agreed to free Saab in alternate for the discharge of a number of imprisoned People and Venezuela’s return of a fugitive international protection contractor often known as “Fats Leonard.” The deal got here as a part of an effort by the Biden White Home to roll again sanctions and lure Maduro into holding a free and honest presidential election.
Recent prices in opposition to people beforehand granted clemency are uncommon and might solely be secured for crimes dedicated exterior the outlined scope of the pardon, stated Frank Bowman, a professor emeritus on the College of Missouri College of Regulation who’s writing a guide on pardons.
Saab’s pardon was narrowly tailor-made to a 2019 indictment — the case quantity is cited within the pardon itself — associated to a contract he and Pulido allegedly gained by bribes to construct low-income housing items in Venezuela that had been by no means constructed.
Saab’s pardon got here with numerous circumstances, Bowman famous, together with that he stay exterior america and never commit any additional crimes in opposition to it. “This can be a voidable pardon,” he stated.
Insider connections gasoline Saab’s rise
In Venezuela’s graft-ridden patronage system, the place loyalty and insider connections are paramount, few insiders prospered like Saab. He first got here onto the radar of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration greater than a decade in the past, after amassing numerous contracts with Maduro’s socialist administration.
In 2016, a pro-Maduro governor allegedly employed an organization managed by Pulido to import from Mexico 10 million meals containers at $34 per field. He allegedly did so understanding that the actual value of buying and sending the containers to Venezuela was far much less and demanded kickbacks. A type of who allegedly signed off on the deal and helped arrange an online of firms to cover the bribe funds was Saab, who’s recognized within the indictment as “Co-Conspirator 1.”
Saab was arrested in 2020 after his personal jet made a refueling cease in Cape Verde en path to Iran on what the Venezuelan authorities described as a humanitarian mission to avoid U.S. sanctions.
Maduro celebrated Saab’s return in 2023 as a “triumph for fact” over what he referred to as a U.S.-led marketing campaign of lies, threats and torture in opposition to somebody he thought-about a Venezuelan diplomat. However a number of Republicans criticized the deal, together with Sen. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, who wrote a letter to then-Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland saying historical past “ought to bear in mind (Saab) as a predator of susceptible individuals.”
The White Home didn’t reply to requests for touch upon the federal investigation of Saab. The Justice Division and FBI declined to remark.
Witness in opposition to Maduro?
Ought to he be returned to U.S. custody, Saab might develop into a helpful witness in opposition to Maduro, the previous regulation enforcement officers stated. Saab secretly met with the DEA earlier than his first arrest and, in a closed-door courtroom listening to in 2022, his legal professionals revealed that the businessman, for years, helped the DEA untangle corruption in Maduro’s internal circle. As a part of that cooperation, he forfeited greater than $12 million in unlawful proceeds from soiled enterprise dealings.
David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami, stated Saab could possibly be a helpful character witness in opposition to Maduro even when he himself has not been charged with drug trafficking like the previous Venezuelan chief.
“The indictment in opposition to Maduro contained numerous salacious allegations, however there was little in the best way of corroboration,” stated Weinstein. “Saab, if the experiences about his personal legal exercise and closeness to Maduro are true, can describe for jurors a spread of legal exercise that’s alleged to have taken place throughout Maduro’s authorities.”
Saab additionally has ties to Rodríguez, the Trump administration’s most well-liked accomplice to succeed Maduro. The AP reported final month that the DEA has examined Rodríguez’s involvement in authorities contracts awarded to Saab. The U.S. authorities has by no means publicly accused Rodríguez of any legal wrongdoing.
This story is a part of an investigation that features the FRONTLINE documentary “Disaster in Venezuela,” premiering Feb. 10, 2026, on PBS. Watch the documentary at pbs.org/frontline, within the PBS App, on PBS stations and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel.
Mustian reported from New York. Related Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed reporting from Washington.
