Colombian Businessman Sanctioned by US Over Work With Venezuelan Food Program Arrested in Cape Verde
The US Treasury slapped the businessman with sanctions last July, accusing him of involvement in a corruption scheme involving a Venezuelan program to produce and distribute food to impoverished communities. The program was started in 2016, partly as a result of food shortages stemming from US pressure on the Latin American nation.
Authorities in Cape Verde have arrested Venezuela-affiliated Colombian businessman Alex Saab, the US Justice Department announced Saturday.
Saab, formally charged with spearheading a money laundering and bribery scheme in Venezuela by the US last July, was said to have been arrested on the basis of an Interpol red notice issued in Miami, Florida.
A source said to be familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that Saab was arrested while his plane was refueling on a flight from Venezuela to Iran.
The Justice Department claims that Saab, 48, and another Colombian businessman profited from overvalued contracts related to a Venezuelan food distribution program known as the ‘Local Committees for Supply and Production’ (Spanish acronym CLAP). The US Treasury Department slapped him and companies he was connected to with sanctions over the program last summer.
Saab’s arrest follows the freezing of some $9.28 million in assets in his home country of Colombia on Tuesday.
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