Maduro ally Alex Saab pleads guilty to money laundering in US court

Alex Saab, a close ally of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a money-laundering charge linked to an alleged bribery scheme to secure lucrative public contracts in Venezuela. As part of the plea agreement, Saab agreed to cooperate with ongoing federal investigations in the United States and to hand over 195 million dollars (some €168.9 million) derived from the corruption scheme. Saab, 54, was deported to the United States in May by Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez. US authorities have been investigating the Colombia-born businessman for more than a decade. The money-laundering charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.