Alex Saab, a close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday in a US federal case involving allegations that he bribed officials to secure lucrative government contracts for food imports.
Saab is scheduled to appear before US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami for a change-of-plea hearing, according to court records.
Details of the expected plea agreement had not been made public at the time of the report, while Saab’s lawyer, Neil Schuster, declined to comment.
The Colombian-born businessman has faced scrutiny from US authorities for more than a decade over allegations linked to his business dealings with the Venezuelan government.
Saab was deported to Venezuela in May by the country’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez following pressure from the United States.
US prosecutors had accused him of money laundering as part of an alleged scheme involving fake companies, falsified shipping documents and the diversion of money from government contracts awarded for food imports from Colombia and Mexico.
The allegations relate to a period when Venezuela was facing severe economic hardship and shortages, with Saab accused of exploiting government contracts intended to provide food for the population.
The 54-year-old businessman was initially charged in 2019 during Donald Trump’s first administration.
He was later arrested in Cape Verde while making a refuelling stop during a journey that the Venezuelan government said was connected to a high-level humanitarian mission to Iran.
Saab remained in US custody until 2023, when then-President Joe Biden pardoned him as part of a prisoner exchange arrangement that secured the release of several Americans held in Venezuela.
The pardon was linked to an unsuccessful effort by the Biden administration to persuade Maduro to hold a free presidential election.
The decision attracted strong criticism from Republicans and some federal law enforcement officials, who objected to Saab’s release and questioned the scope of the pardon.
Following his release, US authorities began examining Saab over other alleged offences that were not covered by the narrowly defined pardon.
The expected guilty plea on Tuesday therefore marks another major development in the long-running US case against the businessman, whose dealings with the Venezuelan government have made him a prominent figure in the country’s political and legal disputes with Washington.
