Alex Saab has pleaded not guilty to a high-level corruption lawsuit Court News

Saab is accused of paying the Venezuelan government for purchases worth $ 350 million from state contracts to build homes.

Alex Saab, a businessman accused of laundering millions on behalf of the Venezuelan government, pleaded not guilty in a U.S. federal court in a lawsuit that has strained relations between the two countries.

Dressed in a beige jumpsuit, Saab was tied to the legs of five other inmates on Monday as he entered Miami courthouse prosecution.

Saab, 49, is accused of paying the Venezuelan government for purchases of $ 350 million from state housing contracts. Then seven charges were dismissed, now faces only one conspiracy to launder money – a prison sentence of up to 20 years – when Cape Verde agreed to extradite Saab to the United States at the latest approved last month.

Venezuela has launched a full-fledged diplomatic attack to ally Russia and Cuba to come to Saab’s defense, arguing that the Colombian-born businessman was a diplomat on a special humanitarian mission in Iran when his plane was arrested at a stop to supply the African archipelago. .

His lawyer, Neil Schuster, went to court as a representative of the “Diplomate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” and then filed an allegation of innocence. A small group in favor of the Venezuelan government shouted “Free, release Alex Saab” in an out-of-court proceeding.

“He was persecuted, kidnapped and tortured for helping Venezuela,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said at a book fair in Caracas this month, where Saab’s Italian wife presented a collection of letters written by Saab that was allegedly detained in Cape Verde by a U.S. order. .

Maduro’s allies have called the U.S. government part of the “economic war” against Venezuela behind Saab. The lawsuit has violated relations between the US and Venezuela.

But in a related case, new courts have stated that Saab, despite appearing as an anti-imperialist revolutionary, may have been secretly betraying the Venezuelan government to U.S. officials for years.

A bomb incident by a University of Miami professor, Bruce Bagley, was hired by Saab to assist in his son’s visa application, and then used as a channel for lawyers to make payments, helping reach U.S. federal investigators. .

Saabe, through a lawyer, said all his activities have been a blessing from Maduro’s government and that he has always been a “loyal citizen” of Venezuela.

Venezuela sees Saab as a custodian of secret states and said attempts to extract recognition could jeopardize Venezuela’s national security.

But it is not clear what force Venezuelans have to avoid collaborating with federal Saab investigators in exchange for a light punishment.

When Saab was being flown to the U.S. on a Department of Justice plane, Maduro’s government negotiations suspended In Mexico, with the US-backed opposition backed by Venezuela, he accused the Biden administration of trying to sabotage the talks.

The Maduro government has also jailed six U.S. oil executives accused of corruption. They were under house arrest in another political case marked by allegations of wrongful arrest. They have been he accepted a rare appeal and are expected to appear in a Venezuelan court on Tuesday.

In 2020, the Venezuelan government quietly offered the imprisoned Americans, the so-called Citgo 6, along with two former green caps linked to a cross-border attack, in exchange for the US leaving Alex Saab. [File: Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo]

Meanwhile, the US continues to put pressure on Saab.

Shortly after arriving in the United States, Miami prosecutors opened a new indictment accusing his former business partner, Alvaro Pulido, of creating a network of shell companies around the world — Turkey, Hong Kong, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. hide the profits and bribery payments associated with overvalued food contracts. Saab himself was punished in 2019 for playing the same scheme of alleged blows.

But Saab’s importance to Maduro’s government was much deeper.

As the U.S. increases sanctions against Venezuela, it is believed to have emerged as the government’s main fixer on international connections to avoid U.S. restrictions. A trip to Iran, Described by Maduro as a humanitarian mission, aimed to reach agreements to sell the country’s crude oil in exchange for much-needed fuel and other goods.