On a seemingly ordinary journey, a Lebanese-born Colombian businessman Alex Saab was on his way to Tehran when he was arrested by the authorities of the Republic of Cape Verde, but a deeper look at the man's controversial history reveals much about his ties to Iran, money laundering, and even support of terrorism.
Saab, the man close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was arrested on Saturday in Cape Verde, his lawyer announced, knowing that he faces US charges of money laundering, in addition to charges of illegal activities in Venezuela.
AlexSaab was born on December 21, 1971, and started his business selling clothes and keys, then expanded his business to include export, especially to Venezuela, the neighbor of Colombia.
The US authorities accuse Saab of money laundering and of entering into illegal business deals with the Maduro government, which helped him consolidate his power.
Last summer, the US Treasury Department charged Saab with money laundering and bribes to officials in Venezuela to transfer money worth $ 350 million to external accounts, as part of a program aimed at serving hungry people in Venezuela, according to Bloomberg.
Washington says that instead of distributing food to the poor in Venezuela, Maduro distributes these food to his loyalists.
US Treasury SecretaryStephen Mnuchin stated that Saab was involved with the Maduro regime in exploiting food to exploit the hungry population, distribute rewards to supporters and punish opponents, and they earned hundreds of millions of dollars because of the matter.
His name Alex Saab has emerged in recent weeks, as he is suspected of playing a role in conducting trade exchanges with Iran, as part of a larger plan that included providing Iran with oil, workers and other supplies in exchange for 9 tons of Venezuelan gold worth $ 500 million.
But the lawyer for the Colombian-Lebanese businessman denied his involvement in the matter, which is considered a form of defrauding the American sanctions, and said that her client is "just an entrepreneur in the field of food."
In 2017, the man declared that he is "an open book, and my accounts are clear and my conscience is satisfied", in response to accusations that he is involved in involvement in corrupt contracts with the government of Venezuela.
"Bloomberg" stated that it contributed to the conclusion of a deal between Iran and Venezuela, and also worked to strengthen this country's relationship with Turkey.
He is believed to be involved in supplying $ 900 million in gold to Turkey, at which point US officials feared that these quantities had made their way to Iran in violation of the sanctions.
As of October 2018, Saab was under investigation by the Colombian authorities for money laundering, because of his relationship with the Venezuelan government between 2004 and 2011, and during these investigations a number of his aides were arrested, and Saab denied the charges against him.
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