Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering conspiracy in the US

Former Venezuelan minister Alex Saab, identified by the United States as an alleged figurehead of the deposed president Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to money laundering and illicit financial transactions after an agreement with the Prosecutor's Office, and assured that there were no threats or other treatment to accept his guilt.

Appearing in person in a Miami court, with his gray hair tied back, beard and ocher prison uniform, Saab changed his plea from "not guilty", which he had entered last July 24, to guilty during a hearing before Judge Kathleen M. Williams in the Southern District Court of Florida. "Guilty, your honor," said the 54-year-old oil businessman at the hearing, according to EFE.

The 12-page agreement that Saab reached with the Prosecutor's Office, the details of which were not revealed, was reviewed by the judge, after which the former Venezuelan official of Colombian origin could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The Colombian, who will receive his final sentence next January, admitted that he committed, together with accomplices with undisclosed identities, conspiracy to carry out illicit activities, fraud, bribery of public officials and conceal the origin of the funds.

The authorities did not reveal the details of the agreement, but the former minister of former President Maduro, deposed by the US last January and imprisoned in New York, assured that there was no deal beyond that presented to the Prosecutor's Office or threats to make him accept his guilt.

Saab appeared for the first time on the current charges before the US courts on May 18, two days after his deportation to the United States from Venezuela, now under the presidency of Delcy Rodríguez.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the case involves the corruption and exploitation of a social assistance program intended to provide food to vulnerable Venezuelans with alleged transfers to bank accounts in the United States. This process becomes relevant because it occurs after Maduro's arrival in New York in January, where he faces charges for "narcoterrorism", drug trafficking and weapons possession.