Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering in US court following cooperation agreement

Guilty plea in Miami federal court

Alex Saab, a 54-year-old Colombian businessman and former Venezuelan minister of industry, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conduct illicit financial transactions. Appearing in person before US District Judge Kathleen M. Williams at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, Saab reversed his previous plea of not guilty entered on 24 July 2026. Dressed in an ochre prison uniform with gray hair tied back and a beard, he confirmed that his decision followed a 12-page plea agreement negotiated with federal prosecutors.

When asked by Judge Williams for his formal response during the plea hearing, Saab answered the court directly.

Under the terms of the agreement, Saab faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Judge Williams scheduled his formal sentencing hearing for January 2027.

Food contract fraud and money laundering schemes

The charges brought by the US Department of Justice focus on an extensive bribery and money-laundering conspiracy operating between 2015 and 2019. Federal prosecutors stated that Saab and undisclosed co-conspirators paid bribes to Venezuelan government officials to obtain lucrative supply contracts under the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP), a state program designed to provide subsidized food packages. Saab used front companies and fraudulent import paperwork to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from public food funds, channeling illicit transfers through bank accounts in the United States. The illicit network later expanded into sales of crude oil for state energy company PDVSA in violation of US sanctions. An account by Alberto News stated that Saab agreed to forfeit approximately $195 million in illicit profits. Earlier US indictments had also linked Saab and Colombian partner Álvaro Pulido to fraudulent public housing contracts between 2011 and 2015 that exploited Venezuela's official currency exchange controls.

Extradition, prisoner exchange, and deportation

Saab built close business ties with the Venezuelan government during the final years of Hugo Chávez's presidency (1999–2013) before managing key import networks under Nicolás Maduro. In June 2020, Cape Verde police arrested Saab during a refueling stop while he traveled to Iran, leading to his initial extradition to the United States in October 2021. The US government under President Joe Biden released Saab in December 2023 as part of a prisoner swap that freed 10 US citizens, a fugitive military contractor, and roughly 20 Venezuelan political prisoners. Maduro subsequently appointed Saab as minister of industry in 2024. Following the capture of Maduro by US military forces in January 2026, Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez removed Saab from his ministerial position. On 16 May 2026, Venezuela's immigration service (SAIME) deported Saab to the United States, where he made his initial court appearance on 18 May.

Cooperation and the federal trial of Nicolás Maduro

Saab affirmed under oath that he faced no external threats, coercion, or undisclosed promises when entering into the 12-page plea deal. The agreement requires him to assist US law enforcement agencies with ongoing criminal investigations targeting corrupt financial networks. The development directly impacts the pending prosecution of Maduro, who remains incarcerated at a federal detention center in New York. Maduro faces federal indictments for narcoterrorism, international cocaine trafficking, and weapons possession. The trial against the former Venezuelan president is scheduled to begin in June 2027 before a federal court in New York.