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Saab, 49, has been on trial in Miami, in the southeastern United States, since October 18.
AFP
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A United States judge on Monday dismissed seven of the eight money laundering charges charged against Álex Saab, a Colombian businessman close to the Venezuelan government, due to “guarantees” given to Cape Verde during the defendant’s extradition process.
Saab, 49, has been on trial in Miami, in the southeastern United States, since October 18, two days after he arrived in that city from the African archipelago.
Now the US justice stops indicting seven charges of money laundering and only keeps one against him, that of conspiracy to launder money, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Judge Robert Scola of the Southern District of Florida signed the order at the request of the District Attorney.
On September 7, 2020, during the extradition process, the United States had given “guarantees” to Cape Verde that “it was not going to prosecute or punish the defendant Álex Nain Saab for more than one charge of the indictment,” explained the Prosecutor’s Office. on your motion sent to the judge.
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That decision was made to “comply with a Cape Verdean law related to the maximum term of imprisonment,” he said.
Saab arrived in Miami on October 16 after his extradition from Cape Verde, at the request of the United States.
According to the US indictment, he and his partner, the Colombian fugitive Álvaro Pulido, transferred 350 million dollars obtained illegally in Venezuela to launder them through the United States.
Prosecutors from the North American country assure that both profited illegally and created a network of bribes, taking advantage of a contract signed with the Venezuelan government in November 2011 to build homes for low-income people.
The dismissal of charges only affects Saab and not Pulido, the Prosecutor’s Office indicated in its brief.
Hearing adjourned
The extradition of Saab, whom the Venezuelan opposition accuses of being a front man for President Nicolás Maduro, infuriated Caracas.
The Maduro government, which gave the Colombian Venezuelan nationality and an ambassadorial title, fought unsuccessfully to prevent his transfer to the United States.
After accusing Washington of kidnapping Saab, Maduro ordered the suspension of the negotiations that the government was carrying out with the opposition in Mexico.
The defendant was due to appear this Monday before Judge Scola to attend the reading of the charges against him and plead guilty or not guilty.
But the hearing was postponed until November 15, to allow Saab to meet for the first time in person with his attorney, Henry Bell.
That meeting has not yet taken place because the Colombian was quarantined upon arrival in Miami, as a preventive measure due to the covid-19 pandemic.
This Monday afternoon, Saab submitted to the court a waiver to attend its next hearing in person or by videoconference, taking advantage of its right.
The businessman is also suspected of laundering money obtained illegally through a food subsidy system in Venezuela.
Although this crime does not appear in the indictment, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned it for that reason in July 2019. (I)
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