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(CNN)An alleged financier to embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been extradited from Cape Verde to the US and is scheduled to look successful tribunal Monday, the US Department of Justice said Sunday.
Colombian businessman Alex Saab is expected to marque his archetypal tribunal quality astatine 1 p.m. ET earlier US Magistrate Judge John J. O'Sullivan of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, DOJ spokesperson Nicole Navas Oxman said successful a connection Sunday.
The US alleges Saab was down a corruption web involving a government-subsidized nutrient programme called CLAP that allowed Maduro and his allies to bargain hundreds of millions of dollars from the Venezuelan radical portion besides utilizing nutrient arsenic a signifier of societal control.
"Rather than guarantee that this susceptible colonisation receives the nutrient it desperately needs, the authorities uses the CLAP programme arsenic a governmental instrumentality to reward enactment and punish governmental criticism," the US Treasury Department said successful 2019.
"By offering nutrient done this program, the erstwhile authorities is capable to support its power due to the fact that galore Venezuelan citizens bash not person capable wealth to bargain nutrient and truthful beryllium connected the rations CLAP provides to survive."
The Treasury Department besides accused Saab of personally profiting from overvalued contracts.
Saab had been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department and had been sought by the DOJ's Southern District of Florida implicit wealth laundering charges.
Due to his indictment successful the US, an Interpol reddish announcement was issued. In June 2020, Saab was detained portion traveling from Venezuela to Iran erstwhile his pitchy stopped to refuel successful Cape Verde, an African land nation.
He was extradited connected Saturday, and the DOJ said Saab's extradition was "conducted successful afloat compliance with each applicable Cabo Verdean laws and tribunal rulings."
"The U.S. Department of Justice expresses our gratitude to the Government of Cabo Verde for its assistance and perseverance with this analyzable lawsuit and admiration for the professionalism of Cabo Verde's judicial system," the DOJ connection said.
But Saab's lawyer alleged successful a video connection Saturday that Saab had been "kidnapped" by the United States and that his extradition "violated" the rules of Cape Verde's interior instrumentality and the planetary law.
Hours aft Saab's extradition, 5 US citizens and a imperishable nonmigratory known arsenic the "CITGO 6" who had been detained successful Venezuela were picked up by the country's quality work -- apparently successful retaliation for Saab's extradition.
The CITGO 6 consists of erstwhile executives of CITGO Petroleum Corporation -- José Ángel Pereira, Gustavo Cárdenas, Jorge Toledo, José Luis Zambrano, Tomeu Vadell and Alirio José Zambrano.
They were arrested successful Caracas successful 2017 connected embezzlement charges and had been nether location apprehension since May. They person denied the charges.
After being picked up by the Venezuelan quality work SEBIN, the men were taken to Helicoide situation successful Caracas, lawyers Jesús Loretto and María Alejandra Poleo told CNN connected Sunday.
The US State Department denounced the imprisonment of "six wrongfully detained Americans successful Venezuela."
"These six Americans and their families person suffered agelong enough," the State Department said successful a connection Sunday. "The United States continues to telephone for their contiguous merchandise and instrumentality to the United States."
Akanksha Sharma and Isa Soares contributed to this report.
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