MIAMI, UNITED STATES— Colombian businessman Álvaro Pulido Vargas, 62, a business partner of Alex Saab, was taken into custody by U.S. authorities following a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Pulido had been wanted by U.S. authorities for several years
and faces two federal indictments filed in Miami in 2019 and 2021 related to
alleged bribery and money laundering schemes linked to contracts with the
Venezuelan government.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecutors are
investigating an alleged network of offshore companies that channeled illegal
payments and concealed funds originating from transactions with officials in
the Maduro government.
One of the indictments, filed in 2021, alleges that Pulido
and his alleged accomplices obtained contracts worth approximately $1.6 billion
related to Venezuela's CLAP program, which distributes food and medicine to the
population.
Investigators maintain that the contract costs were inflated
to finance bribes and generate illicit profits. According to the indictment, some
of the money was allegedly transferred through bank accounts in the United
States and other countries.