NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who was extradited to Miami last month on U.S. money laundering charges, met with U.S. law enforcement years ago, a former Saab associate said in court papers.
Bruce Bagley, a former University of Miami professor who studied drug trafficking in Latin America, was arrested in November 2019 on charges he received $2.5 million in deposits from overseas accounts that were controlled by Saab, and that he retained a commission. He pleaded guilty last year.
In a document submitted to a Manhattan federal court late on Tuesday in an effort to seek a lenient sentence, Bagley’s attorneys said the money he received was to pay lawyers “who were counseling Saab and accompanying him to meetings with the United States government, during which meetings Saab provided information on the Maduro government.”
The meetings had begun by 2017, according to the filing.
Lawyers for Saab did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They previously said he will plead not guilty to the U.S. charges.
Bagley’s lawyers wrote that an associate of the two, whose name was redacted in the filing, “told Dr. Bagley that federal law enforcement authorities wanted Alex Saab to provide intelligence with regard to the Venezuelan government, and the meetings had already begun.”
Bagley’s assertion that Saab previously met with law enforcement could spur hopes among Venezuela’s opposition that he will once again cooperate with U.S. prosecutors, who have accused Maduro and other Venezuelan officials of drug trafficking.
Saab was detained in Cape Verde last year on a U.S. warrant and was extradited in October. His case, which pits Washington against Maduro’s socialist government, has drawn attention because Saab has emerged in recent years as a key broker in helping Caracas bypass U.S. sanctions to import goods.
