MADURO REGIME ALLY ALEX SAAB PLEADS GUILTY TO MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME INVOLVING BRIBERY AND PUBLIC CONTRACTS FOR FOOD AND MEDICINE

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division issued the following news release:

Alex Nain Saab Moran, 54, of Caracas, Venezuela, and formerly of Baranquilla, Colombia, a former Minister of Industry in the regime of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to launder proceeds of a massive bribery and fraud scheme in Venezuela and the United States.The plea was heard by U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams in Miami.

According to court documents,Saabcarried out a nearly decade-long conspiracy to corruptly profit from a Venezuelan public welfare program for food and medicine known as Comite Local de Abastecimiento y Producción(CLAP). As part of the plea, Saab admitte...