Charges for alleged Maduro frontman reduced in Florida

Charges for alleged Maduro frontman reduced in Florida

Now the US Justice stops indicting seven charges of money laundering and only keeps one against him, that of conspiracy to launder money, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Judge Robert Scola of the Southern District of Florida signed the order at the request of the District Attorney.

Background

On September 7, 2020, during the extradition process, the United States had given “guarantees” to Cape Verde that “it was not going to prosecute or punish the defendant Alex Nain Saab for more than one count of the indictment,” explained the Prosecutor’s Office. on your request sent to the judge.

That decision was made to “comply with a Cape Verdean law related to the maximum term of imprisonment,” he said.

Saab arrived in Miami on October 16 after his extradition from Cape Verde, at the request of the United States.

According to the US indictment, Saab and his partner, Colombian fugitive Álvaro Pulido, transferred $ 350 million apparently obtained illegally in Venezuela to launder them through the United States.

Suspicions

US prosecutors claim that both signed a contract with Chavismo in November 2011 to build houses for low-income people. Taking advantage of the exchange rate controlled by the Venezuelan authorities, they profited and launched a bribery scheme, according to the complaints.

The Prosecutor’s Office indicated in its letter that the dismissal of charges only affects Saab and not Pulido.

The extradition of Saab, who the Venezuelan opposition accuses of being a front man for President Nicolás Maduro, infuriated Caracas. So much so, that the socialist president canceled the negotiations that were taking place in Mexico City to put the country’s long and seriously institutional crisis on track. It depends on this process of dialogue that Venezuela can hold internationally recognized elections, put US economic sanctions on hold and face economic reforms that allow controlling hyperinflation and productive depression.

The Maduro government, which gave the Colombian Venezuelan nationality and an ambassadorial title, fought unsuccessfully to prevent his transfer to the United States.

In July 2019, the US Treasury Department also sanctioned Saab for laundering money obtained illegally through a food subsidy system in Venezuela.

Source From: Ambito

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