MIAMI — Federal agents arrested Alex Nain Saab Moran, a 55-year-old Colombian national and former Venezuelan Minister of Industry and National Production, on money laundering charges tied to a sprawling scheme that allegedly siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from a public food program meant for vulnerable Venezuelans.

Saab made his initial appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida after an indictment was unsealed charging him with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments — a charge carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. According to the indictment, Saab conspired with others to bribe Venezuelan public officials to secure contracts under the Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción, or CLAP, a government welfare program intended to import food for the country’s poor.

“Thanks to the efforts of the Homeland Security Task Force, Alex Saab will be prosecuted and held fully accountable under U.S. law for his alleged role in this scheme,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Prosecutors allege Saab and his co-conspirators used shell companies, fraudulent invoices, falsified shipping records and a network of bribes and kickbacks to divert funds that were supposed to purchase food. The conspiracy expanded from 2019 through at least January 2026, according to the indictment, as U.S. economic sanctions crippled Venezuelan oil exports and strained the country’s finances. Saab and his associates allegedly gained access to billions of dollars’ worth of oil owned by state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and sold it under false pretenses, laundering proceeds through U.S. bank accounts.

“Alex Saab allegedly used American banks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from a Venezuelan food program meant for the poor and proceeds from the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This is unacceptable. The Criminal Division will not allow foreign actors to exploit the American financial system and use it as a safe haven for the proceeds of their corruption.”

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said the case demonstrates the reach of American courts when illicit money flows through domestic banks. “This indictment alleges that a humanitarian food program intended to support vulnerable Venezuelans was instead manipulated for massive personal enrichment,” Reding Quiñones said. “When illicit proceeds are moved through the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will act.”

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said the charges stem from long-running investigations into financial networks tied to Saab and the former Maduro regime. “This Administration’s support of law enforcement and DEA’s relentless pursuit of those enabling cartel activities allowed us, along with our HSTF partners, to return Alex Saab back to the United States to face justice once again,” Cole said.

FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles said agents disrupted “a sophisticated operation facilitated by Alex Saab and his co-conspirators designed to conceal the origins of illegally obtained wealth.” The DEA Miami Field Division is leading the investigation, with assistance from FBI Miami and Homeland Security Investigations Miami.

The prosecution falls under the Homeland Security Task Force established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo from the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case, filed as case number 26-cr-20020 in the Southern District of Florida.