Sept 15 (Reuters) – A Colombian-born businessman with close ties to ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is expected on Tuesday to enter a new plea in a U.S. corruption case, as federal prosecutors prepare separately to take Maduro to trial next year.
Alex Saab is scheduled to appear for a change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami, court records show.
Saab was charged in an indictment unsealed in May with conspiring to launder monetary instruments.
Prosecutors said he stole millions of dollars from a welfare plan intended to help feed needy Venezuelans, and transferred some proceeds to U.S. bank accounts.
Saab pleaded not guilty in July, two months after being extradited as part of acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez’s attempt to shed parts of her predecessor’s government.
A change of plea hearing typically involves a guilty plea by a defendant who previously pleaded not guilty.
It is unclear whether Saab is entering a guilty plea, what charges are involved, and whether a plea includes conditions or obligations.
Lawyers for Saab did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Department of Justice and office of U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones in Miami did not immediately respond to similar requests.
SECOND CRIMINAL CASE
Saab served under Maduro as Venezuela’s minister of industry, before being removed by Rodriguez in January soon after Maduro’s seizure by U.S. Special Forces in Caracas. Venezuela’s new government detained Saab the following month.
The U.S. criminal case is the second against Saab.
In 2020, he was detained in Cape Verde and extradited the following year to face money laundering charges for allegedly siphoning $350 million out of Venezuela in connection with a bribery scheme.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden granted Saab clemency in December 2023, as part of a prisoner swap.
Maduro is being held without bail in a Brooklyn jail, after pleading not guilty to drug trafficking charges.
He has claimed immunity from U.S. prosecution because he once led a sovereign country. Legal experts have called this an uphill battle, in part because Washington had not recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s president since 2019. Maduro’s trial is scheduled for June 1, 2027.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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