Colombia seizes properties of businessman tied to Maduro
Authorities in Colombia have seized a luxury mansion
complete with a spa, tennis court and two pools allegedly belonging to a
businessman detained in Cape Verde on U.S. corruption charges related to
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Images of the home became public as U.S. officials on
Thursday blacklisted two Venezuelan brothers who authorities say carried out
“corrupt activities” for Maduro's government around the world, and supported
his son.
The house seized Wednesday in the city of Barranquilla is
purportedly worth $7.6 million and is registered under the name of a shell company
but in fact belongs to Alex Saab, according to Colombia’s chief prosecutor.
Six other properties including two homes, an apartment and
three garages were also seized and along with the mansion are valued at a total
of $9.6 million.
Saab was arrested in June in Cape Verde and has been
indicted in the U.S. on money laundering charges connected to an alleged
bribery scheme that pocketed more than $350 million from a low-income housing
project for the Venezuelan government that was never built.
The 48-year-old has also been sanctioned by the Trump
administration for allegedly utilizing a network of shell companies across the
world – from Hong Kong to Mexico – to hide massive profits from no-bid,
overvalued food contracts he got through bribes and kickbacks.
The U.S. is currently seeking his extradition.
The Maduro government is contesting his arrest, denouncing
it as an illegal act of aggression by the Trump administration to inflict new
hardship on Venezuela, which was experiencing an economic contraction worse
than the U.S. Great Depression before the pandemic.
Colombian officials released a video of one of the seized
properties Thursday, a spacious modern-styled house with a grand piano near the
entrance. The home appeared empty of any personal belongings but was filled
with furniture.
It features a spa with massage tables, a bathroom with a
giant tub and a marble shower as well as living spaces with billiards and a
ping pong table.
U.S. officials in private have characterized Saab, who was
born in Colombia, as a front man for Maduro, though he has not been identified
as such in court filings. Prosecutors in Colombia had previously announced they
were freezing eight properties belonging to Saab as part of their own money
laundering investigation.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury officials hit Venezuelan brothers
Santiago Jose Morón Hernandez and Ricardo Jose Morón Hernandez with financial
sanctions. They're accused of doing business on behalf of Maduro's government
and supporting his son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, who had been previously
sanctioned.
Maduro Guerra and the two brothers are also central figures
in the sales of gold illegally mined in Venezuela and dispatched from the
Central Bank of Venezuela, U.S. officials said.
The Trump administration has previously sanctioned Maduro
and dozens in the socialist leader's inner circle in a campaign to pressure him
from power. The U.S. supports opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
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