Overview
- Saab, a longtime fixer for Nicolás Maduro, made an initial appearance in Miami on Monday on a newly unsealed money‑laundering charge tied to an alleged bribery scheme.
- Venezuela’s migration agency deported him Saturday by classifying him as a Colombian citizen, a move that sidestepped the constitutional ban on extraditing Venezuelan nationals.
- Saab was detained in Caracas in February in what a U.S. law‑enforcement official described as a joint operation with Venezuelan authorities, reflecting expanding operational cooperation.
- U.S. prosecutors say Saab and partners exploited the CLAP food‑aid program and moved hundreds of millions of dollars through shell firms and U.S. accounts, and officials say he could provide evidence in the case against Maduro in New York.
- The turnaround follows Biden’s 2023 clemency that freed Saab in a prisoner swap, after which he briefly held government posts before Acting President Rodríguez removed him and signaled a break with Maduro’s inner circle.