Alex Saab, 54, pleaded guilty in Miami to conspiring to launder monetary instruments from a nearly decade-long bribery and fraud scheme tied to Venezuela’s Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP) food and medicine program. Saab admitted arranging bribes and other illegal payments so entities secretly controlled by the conspirators could obtain Venezuelan government contracts, then using fake companies, false invoices and shipping records to skim hundreds of millions of dollars. He also admitted routing proceeds through offshore shell companies and the U.S. financial system. Saab had previously received clemency from President Biden in December 2023 and returned to Venezuela, but prosecutors secured a new indictment in January 2026 and brought him back before a federal court in Miami on May 18. No sentencing date has been set; the charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.