A close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been deported by Venezuela to the United States, according to Venezuelan officials, to face federal charges accusing him of orchestrating a sweeping money laundering and bribery scheme tied to Venezuela’s state-run food program and oil industry.

Alex Nain Saab Moran, 55, of Colombia, a former minister of industry and national production under the Maduro regime, appeared in federal court in Miami Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The Justice Department said Saab is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors allege Saab led a yearslong scheme beginning around 2015 to defraud a humanitarian program intended to provide food to impoverished Venezuelans.

He and his co-conspirators later allegedly sold billions of dollars’ worth of Venezuelan state-owned oil while circumventing U.S. sanctions, according to the Justice Department. Authorities say the proceeds were routed through U.S. bank accounts in an effort to conceal the transactions and further advance the scheme.

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“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,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said in a statement. “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.” 

Beginning around 2015, Saab and his associates allegedly paid bribes to Venezuelan government officials to secure contracts tied to the country’s CLAP welfare program, which was intended to purchase and distribute food to vulnerable and impoverished Venezuelans. 

Instead of delivering the promised food supplies, prosecutors allege the group used shell companies, fraudulent invoices and falsified shipping records to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from the program for their own personal gain.

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Businessman Alex Saab walks through Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Around 2019, as sweeping U.S. sanctions crippled Venezuela’s oil exports and placed severe strain on the country’s finances, including its ability to pay Saab and his associates under the CLAP program, Saab and his partners allegedly exploited their corrupt ties to government officials to gain access to billions of dollars’ worth of oil owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil company. 

Officials allege the group sold the oil under false pretenses and used the profits to sustain and expand the original food fraud scheme.

Saab and his associates reportedly laundered the allegedly stolen funds through U.S. bank accounts in an effort to conceal the money trail, giving American authorities jurisdiction to prosecute the case.

“When illicit proceeds are moved through the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will act,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) shakes hands with Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab in Caracas on January 15, 2024. (FEDERICO PARRA/AFP)

Saab was previously indicted in the U.S. in 2019 and extradited from Cabo Verde in 2021. He was pardoned by President Biden in 2023 as part of a prisoner swap, though prosecutors say the new case involves alleged conduct not covered by that pardon.

A Miami-based attorney for Saab declined to comment to The Associated Press.

If convicted, Saab faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The government is also seeking forfeiture of any property or proceeds allegedly obtained through the alleged criminal activity.

The case was investigated by a U.S. Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).