Well this will be a Merry Christmas for Alex Saab.
He was indicted before Judge Scola in a sprawling indictment alleging FCPA and other violations. He was sitting at FDC. But Venezuela struck a deal with the U.S. to return up to 10 Americans in custody in exchange for Saab. From the AP:
The Biden administration has released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a swap for jailed Americans, The Associated Press has learned.
Alex
Saab, who was arrested on a U.S. warrant for money laundering in 2020,
was released from custody Wednesday. In exchange, Maduro will free some,
if not all, of the at least 10 U.S. citizens who remain imprisoned in
Venezuela, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not
authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of
anonymity.
The White House declined to comment.
On Friday and again on Monday, two docket entries were filed under
seal in the long-dormant criminal case out of federal court in Miami, an
indication that a behind-the-scenes deal was in the works.
The
U.S. has long accused Saab of being a bag man for Maduro. Saab’s release
would be seen as a major concession to Maduro, an authoritarian leader
who is himself the target of a $15 million U.S. reward for anyone
bringing him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
The
deal is also likely to anger the Venezuelan opposition, who have of late
criticized the White House for standing by as the leader of the OPEC
nation has repeatedly outmaneuvered the U.S. government after the Trump
administration’s maximum pressure campaign failed to topple him.