Alex Saab

Alex Saab is a Colombian businessman and former ally of Nicolás Maduro, accused of acting as a frontman in massive corruption and money laundering schemes. In 2019, he was indicted in the U.S. for money laundering and bribery related to a fraudulent low-income housing project. He was arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited to the U.S. in 2021. In 2023, President Biden pardoned him as part of a prisoner exchange for detained Americans. Following his return to Venezuela, Saab served as a government minister until January 2026, when he was dismissed. After Maduro was ousted, the new government deported him to the U.S. in May 2026 to face new federal charges. A freshly unsealed indictment in the Southern District of Florida accuses him of a sprawling international conspiracy to launder money and bribe officials to secure contracts for the CLAP food program and to illegally sell Venezuelan oil. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. Previously, Saab faced investigations in Colombia for money laundering and fraud related to his company, Shatex, but was acquitted in May 2024. In 2013, Ecuadorian authorities investigated his company for money laundering, but the case was dropped. Court documents revealed in 2022 that Saab had served as a DEA informant since 2018, during which time he forfeited over $12 million in illicit proceeds.