Maduro Ally Alex Saab Set to Plead Guilty in Miami Money Laundering Case

Alex Saab, a close associate of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, is expected to enter a guilty plea on Tuesday in a federal money laundering case in Miami, court records show.

Saab is scheduled to appear before Judge Kathleen Williams for a change-of-plea hearing. The specifics of the plea were not immediately disclosed, and his attorney, Neil Schuster, declined to comment.

The case against Saab centres on a single money laundering charge. Prosecutors allege he took part in a conspiracy to set up shell companies, falsify shipping records and divert money from government contracts to import food from Colombia and Mexico — contracts won by bribing officials at a time of widespread hardship in Venezuela.

Saab, 54, was first charged in 2019 during the first Trump administration. He was later arrested during a refuelling stop in Cape Verde, on what the Venezuelan government characterised as a high-level humanitarian mission to Iran.

In 2023, President Joe Biden pardoned Saab in exchange for the release of several Americans imprisoned in Venezuela. The deal formed part of a broader, ultimately unsuccessful effort by the Biden White House to press Maduro into holding a free presidential election. It drew sharp criticism from Republicans and federal law enforcement officials, who opened investigations into other alleged crimes by Saab not covered by the narrowly drawn pardon.

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez deported Saab in May in response to pressure from the United States, which has been investigating the Colombian-born businessman for more than a decade.