TL;DR by CuriousCats.ai
- In an eight-page statement of facts, Saab admitted to skimming at least $195 million from at least six contracts awarded to companies he controlled to import food and medicine.
- The scheme had the approval, participation and protection of some of the Venezuelan government’s highest ranking public authorities, including from an individual described only as “Government Official 1A,” who designated a surrogate to receive bribe payments on their behalf.
- Also receiving kickbacks was former Gov. Jose Gregorio Vielma Mora, a Maduro ally who with Government Official 1A’s support secretly awarded a Saab-controlled company a contract in 2016 to deliver 10 million boxes of food rations in Tachira state, prosecutors allege.
- To conceal the criminal activity and hide the payments, Saab said he and his associates falsified shipping records and set up a network of shell companies and bank accounts in countries including Antigua, Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, the Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
- U.S. officials have long described Saab as Maduro’s “bag man” and could ask him to serve as a character witness against the former president, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in Manhattan after being captured in a raid by the U.S. military in January.
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Key Insight
“Saab admitted to skimming at least $195 million from six contracts and implicated Venezuelan officials, including Government Official 1A. U.S. officials have called him Maduro's 'bag man' and could use him as a witness against Maduro, who awaits trial on drug charges in Manhattan.”
CuriousCats studied:
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PBS
“MIAMI (AP) — A close ally of former Venezuelan President long described by U.S. officials as the ousted leader’s frontman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of money laundering tied to an alleged bribery conspiracy to win lucrative government contracts in the South American country.”
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