Venezuela’s government said it had deported a close ally of Nicolás Maduro to face judicial proceedings in the U.S. less than three years after the businessman was pardoned by President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner swap.
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The Venezuelan government in a statement did not explicitly say where it had deported Alex Saab but said its decision was based on several ongoing criminal investigations in the U.S.
The Associated Press reported in February that federal prosecutors have been digging for month into Saab’s role in an alleged bribery conspiracy involving Venezuelan government contracts to import food.
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Saab, 54, amassed a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts. But the Colombian-born businessman, long described by U.S. officials as Maduro’s “bag man,” fell out of favor with the country’s new leadership that took power following the U.S. ouster of the Venezuelan president and could be asked to testify against his former protector.
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