US detains man accused in multi-billion Venezuelan money laundering scheme

ByVanessa Buschschlüter Latin America online editor.

Key points

• The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and State Department had been offering a reward of $10m (£7.5m) for information leading to his arrest.
• They additionally allege that Pulido worked with Alex Saab to launder $350m from a separate bribery scheme involving Venezuela's currency exchange system using bank accounts in Florida.
• Pulido had been in jail in Venezuela since March 2023 accused of diverting profits from the state-run oil firm PDVSA.
• A Colombian man wanted for allegedly laundering funds that had been illegally syphoned off a Venezuelan administration welfare plan has been detained in the United States.
• Until lately, Saab was a powerful figure in the Venezuelan administration with close ties to the then-leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Meanwhile, a Colombian man wanted for allegedly laundering funds that had been illegally syphoned off a Venezuelan administration welfare plan has been detained in the United States.

For context, the US Department of Justice remarked Álvaro Pulido, 62, had been arrested during a Homeland Security Task Force operation on Sunday, but did not provide further details as to how he concluded up in US custody.

Meanwhile, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and State Department had been offering a reward of $10m (£7.5m) for information leading to his arrest.

He is due to appear in court on Tuesday, according to a statement published by the US Attorney's Office.

Pulido's arrest comes just two months after Alex Saab, another Colombian businessman with close ties to the Venezuelan administration, pleaded guilty to capital laundering charges in a US court.

According to The US State Attorney's Office, pulido had been charged in two separate federal indictments "involving the alleged laundering of more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in connection with Venezuelan government bribery schemes".

US prosecutors say Pulido, along with four other co-defendants, bribed Venezuelan administration office-holders to secure contracts to provide poor Venezuelans with food and medicine.

They accuse Pulido of wildly overcharging the Venezuelan administration and laundering the profits through bank accounts abroad, including in the US.

Until lately, Saab was a powerful figure in the Venezuelan administration with close ties to the then-leader, Nicolás Maduro. This person named him minister of industry in 2024.

After Maduro was seized by US forces in a raid on Caracas in January and taken to New York to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges, Saab's fate swiftly changed, nevertheless.

Less than two weeks after Maduro was seized, the new US-backed interim administration of Venezuela sacked Saab from his post as minister, and in May it extradited him to the US. Last month, Saab pleaded guilty to funds laundering charges.

In short, US detains man accused in multi-billion Venezuelan money laundering scheme is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.