Less than three years after being pardoned by President Joe Biden, Venezuelan businessman Alex Saab is once again the subject of a U.S. Justice Department investigation, officials said, in a probe that could strengthen the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Saab, 54 years old, a Colombian-born businessman long described by U.S. authorities as a close financial operator for Maduro’s government, is now under renewed scrutiny for his role in an alleged bribery conspiracy tied to Venezuelan government contracts to import food staples, according to former law enforcement officials.
The CLAP food assistance program, backed by the Venezuelan government, provided subsidized essentials such as rice, corn flour and cooking oil but prosecutors allege the deals involved inflated prices and kickbacks.
The renewed investigation marks a reversal of fortunes for Saab, who had escaped U.S. prosecution for an unrelated bribery scheme after he was pardoned by Biden in 2023 as part of a prisoner swap that secured the release of several Americans jailed in Venezuela in exchange for Saab and another defendant.
That pardon came over objections from U.S. law enforcement, who warned the move could undermine corruption cases.
After the U.S. ouster of Maduro last month, Venezuela’s new acting leader, Delcy Rodríguez, removed Saab from her cabinet and stripped him of government roles, though he has denied being detained amid conflicting reports about his whereabouts in Caracas.
Some experts say that if Saab is located and brought before U.S. courts, he could provide valuable testimony about corruption and criminal activity in Maduro’s government—potentially aiding the broader prosecution of the former Venezuelan leader.
