[ad_1]
from: JOSHUA GOODMAN, Associated Press
Posted: Oct 16, 2021 / 2:55 PM CDT
Updated: 10/16/2021 / 3:37 p.m. CDT
FILE – This Thursday September 9, 2021, pedestrians walk near a placard calling for the freedom of Colombian businessman and Venezuelan special envoy Alex Saab in Caracas, Venezuela. Saab, a senior refugee close to Venezuela’s socialist government, was put on a plane to the U.S. to face money laundering charges, a senior U.S. official confirmed on Saturday, October 16, 2021. (AP Photo / Ariana Cubillos, File)
MIAMI (AP) – A senior refugee close to Venezuela’s socialist government was put on a plane to the United States to face money laundering charges, a senior US official confirmed on Saturday.
Alex Saab was on a chartered flight from the Ministry of Justice from Cape Verde, where he was arrested 16 months ago while en route to Iran on what was later termed a diplomatic humanitarian mission by Nicolás Maduro’s government.
The officer spoke on condition that he was not named. Several media in Cape Verde had previously reported on his extradition, citing unnamed sources. A public relations firm representing Saab said in an email that the Colombian businessman had been removed from his home without notifying his lawyers.
Saab’s arrival in the US will inevitably complicate Washington-Caracas relations and potentially disrupt the fledgling talks between Maduro’s administration and its US-backed opposition in Mexico.
Maduro beat the US last month for the “kidnapping” and “torture” of Saab, a Colombian businessman who prosecutors say has amassed a gamble on behalf of the socialist government facing severe US sanctions .
American authorities have targeted Saab for years because they believe he has numerous secrets about how Maduro, the president’s family and his top aides skimed millions of dollars in government contracts for food and housing amid the widespread use Hunger in oil-rich Venezuela.
However, his defenders, including the Maduros government and allies Russia and Cuba, consider his arrest illegal and claim that Saab is a diplomatic envoy of the Venezuelan government and, as such, immunity from prosecution as part of his official duties.
The argument failed to convince the Cape Verdean Constitutional Court, which last month approved its extradition after a year of wrangling by Saab’s legal team, which includes former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón and BakerHostler, one of the largest US firms.
The Miami federal prosecutor charged Saab in 2019 on money laundering allegations related to an alleged bribery program that raised more than $ 350 million for the Venezuelan government from a low-income housing project.
Regardless, Saab had been sanctioned by the previous Trump administration for allegedly using a network of mailbox companies around the world – in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Hong Kong, Panama, Colombia and Mexico – to pre-overrate huge profits to hide unspent bids. Food contracts obtained through bribes and kickbacks.
Some of Saab’s contracts were obtained by paying bribes to the adult children of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, the Trump administration claimed. Commonly known in Venezuela as “Los Chamos,” slang for “the children,” the three men are also being investigated by Miami prosecutors for allegedly part of a plan to siphon $ 1.2 billion from Venezuela’s state-owned oil company with the US investigation, The Associated Press announced.
But while Saab has long been referred to as the front man of Maduro in private US officials, he is not identified as such in court records.
The previous Trump administration had made Saab’s extradition a top priority and at one point even dispatched a Navy warship to the African islands to keep an eye on the prisoner.
The Maduro government, in turn, has vehemently spoken out against the persecution of Saab as a veiled attempt at regime change by the US government.
However, the Biden administration has downplayed the importance of Saab’s problems, stating that he can defend himself in US courts and that his case should not detract from Norway-sponsored negotiations to overcome Venezuela’s longstanding economic crisis and political tug-of-war.
The government appointed Saab to its negotiating team last month, and other envoys came to Mexico with signs reading “Free Alex Saab”.
___
Follow Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
[ad_2]
