Alex Saab, Ally of Ousted Venezuelan President Maduro, Expected to Plead Guilty in Miami Federal Court on September 15 to Money Laundering Charges

Alex Saab, a close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, is scheduled to appear before Judge Kathleen Williams in a Miami federal court on Tuesday September 15 for a change of plea hearing in which he is expected to plead guilty to money laundering charges, according to court records and multiple outlets including the Washington Times, Euronews, EFE, and Infobae. Saab was charged with a single count of money laundering tied to an alleged conspiracy to create fake companies, falsify shipping records, and skim from government contracts to import food from Colombia and Mexico. The details of the plea were not immediately made public and Saab's attorney Neil Schuster declined to comment. Saab was deported in May 2026 by Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez in response to pressure from the United States, which has been targeting the Colombian-born businessman for more than a decade. The new indictment accuses Saab and others of setting up a web of companies to bribe top Venezuelan officials controlling contracts for the CLAP program set up by Maduro to provide staples such as rice, corn flour, and cooking oil to poor Venezuelans at a time of rampant hyperinflation and a crumbling currency. Prosecutors allege that Saab and others expanded their corrupt influence deep inside the Maduro government, accessing billions of dollars in oil sales from state-run oil company PDVSA. The 54-year-old was previously charged during the first Trump administration in 2019 and arrested during a refueling stop in Cape Verde in 2020, but President Joe Biden pardoned him in 2023 in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans in Venezuela. Saab subsequently returned to Caracas and was named minister of Industries and Production National before his May 2026 deportation.