Venezuela’s former Minister of Industry and National Production made his initial appearance in court today (Monday) pursuant to an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Florida charging him for his alleged role in a sprawling international money laundering conspiracy involving the corruption and exploitation of a Venezuelan public welfare program intended to provide food to vulnerable Venezuelans.

According to court records, Alex Nain Saab Moran, 55, of Colombia, allegedly conspired with others to bribe Venezuelan public officials to secure lucrative Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP) contracts to import food into Venezuela. Saab is accused of conspiring with others to fraudulently misrepresent the nature and source of the food supplies, including falsely documenting imports from Colombia and Mexico.

“Thanks to the efforts of the Homeland Security Task Force, Alex Saab will be prosecuted and held fully accountable under U.S. law for his alleged role in this scheme,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Alex Saab allegedly used American banks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from a Venezuelan food program meant for the poor and proceeds from the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This is unacceptable. The Criminal Division will not allow foreign actors to exploit the American financial system and use it as a safe haven for the proceeds of their corruption.”

“This indictment alleges that a humanitarian food program intended to support vulnerable Venezuelans was instead manipulated for massive personal enrichment,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “According to the charges, the defendant used bribery, shell companies, and fraudulent documents to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars for personal gain. When illicit proceeds are moved through the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will act. The charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“DEA has long investigated the alleged financial crimes and networks tied to Alex Saab and the former Maduro regime,” said Administrator Terrance Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “These charges are a direct result of DEA’s continued commitment to dismantle the corrupt networks operating throughout Venezuela. This Administration’s support of law enforcement and DEA’s relentless pursuit of those enabling cartel activities allowed us, along with our HSTF partners, to return Alex Saab back to the United States to face justice once again.”

“The FBI remains deeply committed to dismantling complex financial networks that fund illicit activities,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office. “By working closely with our federal partners, we have successfully disrupted a sophisticated operation facilitated by Alex Saab and his co-conspirators designed to conceal the origins of illegally obtained wealth. We will continue to deploy every investigative resource at our disposal to track dirty money, protect the integrity of our financial institutions, and ensure that those who profit from crime are held fully accountable under the law.”

Rather than fulfilling the contracts, Saab and his co-conspirators secretly used shell companies, fraudulent invoices, falsified shipping records, and other fabricated documents — along with a network of bribes and kickbacks — to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars that were intended to be used to purchase food for needy Venezuelans. Portions of the illicit proceeds were allegedly spent or concealed through transfers to and through bank accounts in the U.S.

The indictment further alleges that, from 2019 through at least January 2026, the conspiracy expanded as U.S. economic sanctions crippled Venezuelan exports, especially oil, placing severe strain on the country’s finances and its ability to meet its foreign debt obligations, including payments to Saab and his co-conspirators as part of the CLAP program. Exploiting their corrupt relationships with government officials, Saab and his co-conspirators allegedly gained access to billions of dollars’ worth of oil owned by Venezuelan state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and sold it under false pretenses.

Proceeds from those illegal sales were then transferred to and through U.S. bank accounts to further promote and conceal the CLAP scheme.

Saab is charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

DEA Miami Field Division is investigating the case, with assistance from FBI Miami and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero for the Southern District of Florida and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo from the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case.