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Maduro ally deported to US over alleged billion-dollar corruption scheme tied to oil, food program
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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.
MADURO ALLY ALEX SAAB ARRESTED IN JOINT US-VENEZUELAN OPERATION, OFFICIAL SAYS
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (L) speaks to supporters next to Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab during a rally in Caracas on January 23, 2024. (GABRIELA ORAA/AFP via Getty Images)
«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.
TREASURY TARGETS OIL TRADERS, TANKERS ACCUSED OF HELPING MADURO EVADE U.S. SANCTIONS
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).
venezuelan political crisis, colombia, saab, nicolas maduro, sanctions, crime world
INTERNACIONAL
33 rescued from Venezuelan rubble: Survival window desperately fading with nearly 50,000 missing
US sends emergency aid to Venezuela as earthquake death toll rises
Fox News correspondent Nate Foy reports live from the debris fields of Caracas, documenting rescue operations after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes decimated Venezuela. As the death toll surpasses 1,400 and over 68,900 citizens remain unaccounted for, search-and-rescue teams are working alongside the U.S. military to pull survivors from a collapsed 17-story high-rise before the critical 72-hour survival window shuts.
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Search-and-rescue crews in Venezuela pulled 33 people alive from collapsed buildings over the weekend after twin earthquakes devastated the country’s northern coast, but officials and aid workers warned Sunday that time was rapidly running out for nearly 50,000 still feared missing.
The death toll stood at 1,430 as of late Saturday, according to The Associated Press. More than 3,000 have been injured and roughly the same number are living in shelters, according to Venezuelan authorities.
The worst devastation is concentrated in coastal La Guaira state, where entire apartment blocks, hotels and public housing buildings pancaked after magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck in quick succession Wednesday. Hundreds of aftershocks have continued to rattle damaged neighborhoods, complicating rescue work and keeping survivors outside in the heat.
Among the 33 rescued were an infant removed alive from rubble by U.S. rescuers, an 11-year-old boy found by a Colombian team after a scanner detected him about 10 feet below the surface, and another 11-year-old rescued by Mexican crews in Caraballeda.
AMERICAN RESCUE TEAMS PULL INFANT ALIVE FROM RUBBLE IN VENEZUELA DAYS AFTER DEVASTATING TWIN EARTHQUAKES
U.S. firefighters from Fairfax County, Virginia, sent by the State Department work to reach earthquake survivors trapped in the rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela on Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Matias Delacroix)
«In these hours each life is hope for Venezuela,» Acting President Delcy Rodríguez wrote on X after one of the rescues.
Swiss rescue-team leader Sebastian Eugster told Reuters that the odds of finding survivors drop sharply after roughly 72 hours under rubble. That mark passed Saturday evening.
«There exists a window of roughly three days, 72 hours, where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive,» Eugster said.
The missing toll remains highly uncertain. The government has spoken of hundreds missing or trapped, while some estimated just under 50,000 people as missing Sunday, down from 55,000 a day earlier. The AP reported that families had listed 68,900 people missing Saturday, underscoring the chaos in accounting for the dead, the displaced and those cut off by communications failures.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES $150M IN AID, DEPLOYS NAVY WARSHIPS AFTER DEADLY VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES
With the desperation of the survival window closing as the days and hours wear on, Starlink has provided communication services for the humanitarian crisis.
«Starlink Mobile is providing free connectivity to @MovistarVe customers in the La Guaira region, and we are working to provide free service for @DigitelAyuda and @movilnet_ve customers as quickly as possible,» Starlink posted Sunday to X.
«Families, communities and businesses with compatible LTE smartphones can now stay connected through SMS even if terrestrial networks are not available and customer phones will automatically connect to Starlink Mobile. Coverage will work best with a clear view of the sky.»
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Pope Leo on Sunday expressed solidarity with survivors and victims’ families holding out hope.
«I wish to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes that caused numerous victims and injuries,» the pontiff said in Spanish before worshippers gathered for Sunday’s Angelus prayer in Rome.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
disasters us, natural disasters, world, disaster response disasters, earthquakes
INTERNACIONAL
El Papa concluyó las cuatro sesiones del Consistorio: volvió a pedir por la paz y oró por las víctimas de los terremotos en Venezuela
En su intervención final en las cuatro sesiones del segundo Consistorio, celebrado en el Aula de las Audiencias Generales —donde fueron desplegadas veinte mesas circulares en las que se sentaron 178 cardenales asistentes—, el Papa relanzó los temas principales discutidos: no violencia, pobreza, multilateralismo, jóvenes, familia, bien común “y la guerra, que no es solo un conflicto entre Estados, sino que nace de una cultura de la potencia que usa economía, tecnología y religión”.
León XIV anunció que el tercer Consistorio tendrá lugar el año próximo. El primero se celebró en enero pasado.
En la última de las cuatro sesiones hubo un momento de diálogo libre de los purpurados con el Papa. León XIV también les pidió que le hicieran llegar sus reflexiones por escrito para abordar los temas elegidos.
“Este Consistorio ha sido un momento precioso y no debe quedar como un encuentro aislado”, dijo el Papa.
Durante las sesiones, los cardenales y el propio pontífice expresaron su solidaridad con el pueblo de Venezuela, castigado por un muy violento terremoto. “Aseguramos nuestras oraciones por las víctimas, por sus familias y por los que sufren”, dijo. “Confiemos al Señor también a todos los que están empeñados en el socorro y pedimos que no venga a menos la solidaridad de la comunidad internacional hacia esta querida nación”.
El Papa concluyó las sesiones con “un llamado profético a la paz del mundo»: “La violencia no tendrá la última palabra”.
“Dios desea la paz para cada nación y para cada pueblo. No debemos resignarnos a la violencia, que no tendrá la última palabra. Dios continúa abriendo en la historia caminos de reconciliación y paz”.
León XIV dijo que ha sido motivo de consuelo y esperanza ver cómo los purpurados, “venidos de Iglesias, culturas y situaciones tan diversas”, han logrado escucharse recíprocamente y buscar juntos lo que mejor sirve al Evangelio. Señaló que la mirada de los cardenales ha contemplado el mundo “tocando los sufrimientos de las guerras, la violencia, la pobreza y tantas injusticias que marcan la vida de los pueblos”.
“Dentro de estos dramas, han reconocido ustedes un sufrimiento aún más profundo: la soledad, las crisis de las relaciones, la pérdida de la esperanza, la dificultad de reconocerse recíprocamente como hermano y hermana. Es una mirada que no quita los ojos de las heridas del mundo, sino que busca las raíces, reconociendo, con frecuencia escondida dentro de ellas, una renovada demanda de sentido, de autenticidad, de espiritualidad y de comunidad. Muchos buscan hoy esperanzas y relaciones verdaderas”.
El pontífice dijo que “el perdón rompe la espiral de la venganza. Esta es la fuerza del Crucificado resucitado, una fuerza que no destruye al enemigo, sino que hace posible reencontrar a un hermano».
En esta perspectiva, el pontífice relanzó el pedido avanzado por diversos grupos de proseguir profundizando el tema de la legítima defensa para intervenir en la naturaleza de los conflictos contemporáneos.
“Esta reflexión merece ser ulteriormente desarrollada con el necesario rigor teológico y pastoral”, agregó. “De un corazón reconciliado pueden nacer palabras desarmadas, relaciones nuevas y una paz capaz de alcanzar también a los pueblos”.
Es evidente que las heridas humanas y el crecimiento de las situaciones de guerra están hoy en el centro de las preocupaciones de la Iglesia. Sobre todo, el Papa evidencia cómo las más profundas se encuentran entre los jóvenes, “en el sufrimiento que a veces lleva a la desesperación de quitarse la vida”.
León XIV insistió en “la defensa inviolable de cada persona”. Destacó “la insistencia de la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia para que sea cada vez más patrimonio vivo de nuestras comunidades».
En la parte final de su intervención en el Consistorio, el Papa confió “una vez más” a los cardenales el camino de actuación del Sínodo. Pidió actuar en la conciencia de que “la sinodalidad no es un sistema de reuniones, ni un método de trabajo”. “Es un estilo espiritual. Nace del encuentro, crece en la escucha y madura en el discernimiento».
“La verdadera demanda no es cuántas conversaciones sabremos organizar, sino cuáles serán las cualidades evangélicas que tendrán nuestros encuentros”, advirtió.
León XIV dijo que los participantes de los Consistorios (que serán anuales, N. de la R.) “están poco a poco redescubriendo su significado más auténtico. No un parlamento, no un congreso en el que prevalecen opiniones o intereses, sino una experiencia de comunión al servicio de la misión”.
“Es un estilo que estamos llamados a promover en toda la Iglesia, porque cada bautizado, según su propia vocación y responsabilidad, participe en la construcción de la civilización del amor al servicio del bien común”, concluyó el pontífice.
INTERNACIONAL
SNAP food stamp fraud has nefarious terrorism links, top Agriculture watchdog warns Congress
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A top Agriculture Department watchdog warned Congress on Thursday that fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has allowed individuals linked to terrorist groups, foreign adversaries and transnational criminal organizations to access and abuse food stamps.
The hearing marked the latest push by the Trump administration and House Republicans to crack down on these financial crimes and address the alleged waste, fraud and abuse in the bloated federal SNAP program.
«SNAP fraud is a reprehensible crime that squanders the compassion of American taxpayers who fund the program and robs from those low-income Americans who qualify for SNAP benefits to feed themselves and their families,» USDA Inspector General John Walk told the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
GOP LAWMAKER PRESSES SNAP ADVOCATE OVER TAXPAYER-FUNDED COCA-COLA DURING HEARING
A screen inside a Family Dollar store in Chicago displays that SNAP and EBT food stamp benefits are accepted, on March 3, 2020. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
«Proceeds of SNAP fraud have gone to individuals linked to terrorist groups, foreign adversary nations and transnational criminal organizations,» Walk testified.
Republicans argued that broader access to state eligibility data could uncover billions more in improper payments and organized criminal activity, while Democrats warned the effort could be used to justify cuts to food assistance for eligible Americans.
Walk, during Thursday’s hearing, seemed to further feed into Republicans’ concerns as he described increasingly sophisticated schemes targeting the roughly $100 billion federal food assistance program. He said organized criminals are stealing benefits from vulnerable Americans through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card skimming, trafficking operations and identity fraud.
The inspector general said the crimes leave many legitimate vulnerable recipients without money to buy food.
He recounted speaking this week with a New York father of five whose SNAP benefits were stolen after criminals skimmed his EBT card.
«I have heard many stories from victims like these working moms and dads,» Walk said. «They’re why SNAP fraud matters.»
CHARTS ILLUSTRATE THE SCALE OF SNAP, A LIFELINE FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
A SNAP EBT information sign is displayed at a gas station in Riverwoods, Ill., on Nov. 1, 2025. (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)
Walk also highlighted a Southern California investigation in which SNAP benefits were allegedly exchanged for cash and crack cocaine.
According to his testimony, gang members then used proceeds from the fraud to purchase firearms.
«I’ll just repeat that,» Walk said. «SNAP dollars, federal tax dollars, used to buy drugs and guns.»
Walk’s testimony underscored the focus of Thursday’s hearing, where House Republicans argued that gaps in oversight and data sharing have allowed billions of taxpayer dollars to be lost to fraud and abuse within the nation’s food stamp program.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., claimed that Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials identified roughly $3 billion in potential fraud and waste using data submitted by participating states. Some examples included benefits allegedly being sent to 186,000 deceased individuals, 442,000 applicants with fraudulent Social Security numbers and hundreds of thousands of duplicate recipients in the system.
He also criticized 21 states for declining to provide requested SNAP data to the USDA, arguing the lack of participation prevents federal officials from identifying additional fraud.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY DEMANDS MINNESOTA FIX SNAP BENEFITS FOR 4 COUNTIES IMMEDIATELY UNDER PILOT PROGRAM
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., criticized 21 states for declining to provide requested SNAP data to the Agriculture Department. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
«If food stamp recipients’ data stays in state-specific databases, individuals may apply for and receive benefits from multiple states,» Burchett said.
Walk said investigators face the same challenge, arguing that limited access to state recipient data makes it difficult to detect fraud before taxpayer dollars are spent.
«We cannot pay and chase our way to stopping SNAP fraud,» he said. «We need to guard the front door.»
The inspector general also warned that criminals can install EBT card skimming devices in as little as seven seconds, allowing thieves to clone benefit cards and drain accounts as soon as monthly benefits are deposited.
While Republicans focused on fraud prevention and tighter oversight, Democrats argued the hearing risked portraying administrative errors as intentional fraud and defended SNAP’s role in feeding vulnerable Americans.
Food Research and Action Center Director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy Gina Plata-Nino said organized theft of EBT benefits poses a serious problem but cautioned lawmakers against confusing payment errors with fraud.
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«Program integrity and food access are not competing goals,» Plata-Nino testified.
The hearing comes as the Trump administration has prioritized rooting out fraud across federal benefit programs, with Burchett arguing additional state cooperation could uncover even more abuse within SNAP.
hearings, republicans, organized crime, counter terrorism, drug and substance abuse
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