Alex Saab did not delay in appearing in a criminal court Court Matters

Saab is accused of bribing a $ 350m bribe from government contractors to build Venezuelan government buildings.

Alex Saab, a businessman accused of embezzling large sums of money from the Venezuelan government, has pleaded not guilty in the United States federal court to a lawsuit that toppled the two countries’ relationship.

Dressed in a beige suit, Saab was handcuffed to five other prisoners on Monday as he entered a court in Miami for that reason. opposition.

Saab, 49, is accused of bribery to extort $ 350m from government contractors to build Venezuelan government buildings. After seven cases were dropped, is now facing a single charge of money laundering – a sentence of 20 years in prison – which was approved by Cape Verde when it agreed to hand over Saab to the US last month.

Venezuela has launched a conspiracy against both Russia and Cuba to protect Saab, claiming a Colombian-born businessman was an ambassador for a special humanitarian operation in Iran when his plane was hijacked while stopping on an African island. .

His lawyer, Neil Schuster, spoke in court as a representative of the “Diplomat of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and ruled that he was innocent. A small group of Venezuelan pro-government supporters shouted “Free, free Alex Saab” outside the courtroom during the trial.

“She was deported, kidnapped and tortured for helping Venezuela,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said at a book fair this month in Caracas where he handed over to Saab’s Italian wife the letters Saab allegedly wrote while in prison in Cape Verde on a US passport. .

Maduro’s supporters have been known to want Saab as part of a “economic war” in Venezuela being waged by the US government. The lawsuit was settled out of court between the US and Venezuela.

But new courts in this regard show that Saab, despite being portrayed as a rebel, could have secretly handed over the Venezuelan government to US officials for years.

The bombing was part of a decision by the University of Miami’s professor Bruce Bagley, who Saab hired to help with his son’s visa application and then used it to pay for lawyers who helped him reach US investigators. .

Saab, through a lawyer, said all his activities were blessed by the Maduro government and he was always a “faithful citizen” of Venezuela.

Venezuela considers Saab to be the custodian of government secrecy and says any attempt to compromise Venezuela’s national security.

But it is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.

As Saab carries to the US on a flight by the Department of Justice, the Maduro government suspended negotiations in Mexico with Venezuelan protesters backed by the US, criticizing Biden for seeking to disrupt the talks.

The Maduro government has remanded in custody six American senior citizens accused of corruption. They were under house arrest on a separate political charge for alleged misconduct. They have been made an urgent appeal and is expected to appear in a Venezuelan court on Tuesday.

In 2020, the Venezuelan government quietly offered to release previously imprisoned American Americans, known as Citgo 6, along with two former Green Berets who had been arrested for failing to cross the border, in exchange for the US to allow Alex Saab. [File: Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo]

Meanwhile, the US continues to pressure Saab.

Shortly after arriving in the US, prosecutors in Miami challenged a new ruling in a lawsuit against a longtime ally, Alvaro Pulido, of Colombia, for setting up a group of global bullet companies – Turkey, Hong Kong, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates – to hide the latest benefits and pay. bribes associated with expensive food deals. Saab himself was released in 2019 for his contribution in the same way he is said to be repaying.

But Saab’s importance to the Maduro government continued to deepen.

When the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela, it is believed that he appeared as a guide to government and international cooperation to avoid US sanctions. His trip to Iran, described as the Maduro humanitarian operation, aimed to find the country’s oil retailer to sell essential oils and other commodities.