International Corruption Case Spanning Two Continents And Two Decades Grows Even More Intriguing
By Ernesto Rodgriguez @Ernestoalexan
February 18, 2022—Since 2018, the mere mention of the name Alex Saab to Venezuelans at home and abroad evokes bad memories of rotten food and rice with metal.
For the rest of the world, here’s a bit of background that puts this week’s revelations in perspective. Saab is the Columbian businessman who cheated Venezuela’s starving population during the worst point of an economic and political crisis that continues to this day.
A Corrupt Food Program
In terms of international intrigue, the Saab story is one for the ages. It was in 2018 when an investigations team at ArmandoInfo published a piece about corruption inside the food Venezuelan Food Program. A year later, the U.S. Treasury Department disrupted the network and published a press release showing how the program was filled with corruption.
It was meant to benefit the people of Venezuela. Instead, it filled the pockets of some of the most corrupt government leaders. You could say it was a money-laundering machine that crossed multiple borders and benefitted corrupt officials at the expense of Venezuela’s most vulnerable citizens.
Indictments, Extradition Request
The scandal led to an indictment of Saab, not to mention Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and other top officials, followed by an extradition request by the U.S. Justice Department in 2021.
Unsealed Court Documents Reveal An Unexpected Backstory
This week, the story took a significant turn in the tale of intrigue. It could change the way many onlookers view his current trial in a South Florida Court.
Meeting in Bogota
According to a 2021 document declassified this week by a U.S. judge, Saab has been working as an informer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The association began sometime after special agents from the DEA and the U.S. Federal Burea of Investigations met with Saab’s lawyers in Bogota, Columbia in 2016.
Lawyers from the powerful DC firm Baker Hostetler tried to keep the information under wraps. Their motion filed shows not only details of the association between Saab and the U.S. agencies, it demonstrates the sensitivity of the case. For example, the attorney’s motion indicated to courts in Washington, DC and Southern Florida that disclosing the information could endanger Saab and his family.
Furthermore, the document also explains that Saab was supposed to turn himself in 2019. But when he didn’t comply, he became a fugitive in the eyes of the U.S. justice system.
Analysis And Implications
It’s an interesting development, especially considering that the Maduro regime has been trying to paint Saab as an essential diplomatic figure in the country. Maduro gave Saab Venezuelan nationality and named him a special envoy of the country during talks with opposition leaders in Mexico last year. They’ve turned the U.S. extradition into an international cause with a hashtag and everything.
Now, it is hard to know if the Maduro regime knew about Saab’s cooperation with U.S. agencies. But it looks like they are trying to deny his collaboration with the DEA.
Saab’s Family
Back in Venezuela, Saab’s wife Camilla Fabri Saab is standing by her man. She tweeted out a letter by Baker Hostetler suggesting that Saab was only explaining to the DEA that he wasn’t doing anything illegal.
For now, the trial in South Florida keeps going. It has implications in Venezuelan politics and beyond. So, stay tuned! The Saab story seems to reveal more about U.S.-South American relationships by the day.
See the GER’s previous reporting on Alex Saab here.
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