Alex Nain Saab Moran, who previously served as the Minister of Industry in the former Maduro government in Venezuela, pleaded guilty on September 15, 2026, to a charge of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. According to federal prosecutors, the charge arises from a decades-long corruption scheme in which Saab arranged bribes and illicit payments to Venezuelan officials, allowing entities he and his co-conspirators secretly controlled to win valuable government contracts tied to CLAP (Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción), a public welfare initiative meant to supply food and medicine to Venezuelan citizens. Rather than fulfilling those contracts, Saab and his associates allegedly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to themselves through a network of fictitious companies and falsified records. Saab also admitted that he moved the illicit proceeds through offshore shell entities into the U.S. financial system. According to the DOJ, a sentencing date has not yet been set.
In December 2023, President Biden granted Saab clemency while he was awaiting trial, and he was sent back to Venezuela. However, federal prosecutors assembled a new case and obtained a separate indictment in January 2026, resulting in Saab’s return to Miami on May 18, 2026, to face the fresh charges.