Nicolas Maduro ally Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering
Saab pleaded not guilty in the same court on July 22. Under an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, however, he admitted to money laundering and conspiring to create shell companies, divert funds from contracts with the Venezuelan government and falsify records.
Saab, 54, had been preparing for a jury trial in November but changed his plea before the U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo and NTN24 reported.
The Justice Department's case alleges that Saab operated a multimillion-dollar fraud and bribery scheme between 2015 and 2019. Prosecutors said he used the U.S. banking system to launder money diverted from public funds intended for Venezuela's subsidized food program, known by its Spanish acronym CLAP, which provides food to low-income Venezuelans.
As part of his plea agreement, Saab agreed to cooperate fully with ongoing federal investigations, Telemundo reported. His cooperation could have implications for Maduro, who is being held in a New York prison awaiting federal trial on charges of narcoterrorism, drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
The agreement also includes commitments to provide information about other unidentified co-defendants linked to Maduro's political circle and Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores.
Saab was extradited to the United States in mid-May by the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez. It marked the second time the businessman had been in U.S. custody.
He was first arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 at the request of the U.S. government while traveling to Iran. He was released in December 2023 by the Biden administration as part of a prisoner exchange.
After returning to Venezuela, Maduro appointed Saab minister of industries and national production.
Saab's cooperation with U.S. prosecutors could make him a significant witness in the federal case against Maduro, his former political ally.
Univision and ABC7 Los Angeles reported that Saab had extensive knowledge of the finances of Maduro's inner circle. His guilty plea and cooperation agreement could provide prosecutors with information relevant to the former Venezuelan leader's federal case.
According to those reports, Saab served as a key financial operator for Maduro's government. After international sanctions were imposed on Venezuela, he allegedly helped establish alternative channels to move billions of dollars outside the Western financial system.
Saab's firsthand testimony could provide federal prosecutors with evidence about whether Maduro was directly connected to the movement of illicit funds allegedly linked to organized criminal activity.
Russian colonel arrested in defense fraud probe
Published 1 Oct, 2026 11:08 | Updated 1 Oct, 2026 12:10
A Russian military officer responsible for inspecting defenses in Kursk Region has been arrested in a widening corruption probe into the alleged embezzlement of funds meant for fortification construction, Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein has said.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Khinshtein said the officer, who was later identified as Colonel Aleksandr Barinov, had been detained the previous day. He was responsible for accepting defensive structures in Kursk Region and neighboring frontline areas but allegedly signed acceptance certificates “without looking,” effectively approving work without inspecting it.
Investigators allege that Barinov, a department head in the engineering troops directorate of Russia’s Leningrad Military District, approved reinforced-concrete anti-tank barriers known as “dragon’s teeth” that did not meet required standards. His actions are believed to have helped conceal the theft of at least 700 million rubles ($8.5 million) allocated for fortifications in Kursk Region.
The defenses came under intense scrutiny after Ukrainian forces launched a large-scale incursion into Kursk Region in August 2024, breaking through the border and seizing dozens of settlements. Russian forces subsequently pushed them back and announced the region’s full liberation in April 2025.
Barinov, who has partially admitted guilt, has been charged with abuse of office and remanded in custody until November 27.
“I am certain that this story does not end here,” Khinshtein said. He pledged that the regional government would continue cooperating with law enforcement to identify everyone involved in what he described as crimes of “unprecedented scale and cynicism.”
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Kursk Region has been hit by a string of corruption scandals involving money earmarked for border defenses. The federal government allocated 19.4 billion rubles for fortifications in 2022-2023, including bunkers, firing positions, anti-tank barriers, and trenches, but prosecutors later alleged that contractors used sham deals and shell companies to siphon off funds.
The scandal has engulfed some of the region’s most senior former officials. Ex-governor Aleksey Smirnov was sentenced to 14 years in prison in April after being convicted of accepting particularly large bribes. Smirnov admitted guilt and claimed that his predecessor, Roman Starovoit, had proposed taking kickbacks.
Starovoit, who governed Kursk Region until becoming Russia’s transport minister in 2024, was found dead from a gunshot wound in July 2025, hours after President Vladimir Putin dismissed him. Investigators treated suicide as the main theory. Law-enforcement sources later said Starovoit had been under scrutiny over possible involvement in the theft of funds allocated for the fortifications, while the Kremlin said his dismissal had not been formally linked to a loss of confidence.
Other officials and contractors have also received prison terms. Former Kursk Region Development Corporation chief Vladimir Lukin was sentenced to nine years over the theft of 152 million rubles, while three businessmen were convicted in a separate scheme involving inflated construction contracts and the theft of more than 141.7 million rubles.
Bolivia arrests attorney general targeted by United States
Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo said Thursday that Mariaca was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a criminal organization, money laundering and drug trafficking, Bolivian broadcaster Unitel reported.
"We have dismantled a criminal organization embedded in the justice system and in the administration of a very important institution, the Public Prosecutor's Office, which, led by Roger Mariaca, became a criminal organization dedicated to encouraging and protecting narcoterrorism in the country," Oviedo said.
He said four senior officials were arrested. In addition to Mariaca, authorities detained Santa Cruz departmental prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, who was also targeted by Washington, police Maj. Rubén Aparicio and senior prosecutor Martín Irusta.
The U.S. government included Mariaca and Zeballos among Latin American officials targeted under a new visa policy. Washington accused Mariaca of accepting bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and help criminals evade justice.
The Attorney General's Office in Sucre initially described the operation as a "kidnapping" and an illegal detention as police entered its headquarters. Mariaca previously rejected the U.S. action against him, calling it "political interference."
Bolivia's Legislative Assembly is scheduled to meet Monday to consider creating a special parliamentary commission to investigate the allegations behind the U.S. measures.
On Monday, the State Department revoked the visas of Latin American officials and businesspeople under a new Trump administration policy targeting people it accuses of undermining democratically elected governments through corruption or drug trafficking.
The department targeted officials, judges, prosecutors and businesspeople, both current and former, from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Bolivia had the largest number of people affected by the measures announced by the United States. Among those targeted were Mariaca and Zeballos.
According to the U.S. government, Mariaca's alleged actions "endanger President Trump's efforts to combat narcoterrorism, while undermining the very democratic institutions that Bolivia, as a participant in the Shield of the Americas program, seeks to strengthen."
