Fugitive businessman taken into US custody in Venezuela bribery case
He pleaded guilty last month and agreed to forfeit $195 million after prosecutors said he helped funnel bribes for Venezuelan state contracts.
- On Sunday, U.S. authorities took Alvaro Pulido into custody following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations into a bribery scheme involving Venezuela.
- Indicted in 2019 and 2021, Pulido allegedly paid bribes to Venezuelan officials to secure state contracts with PDVSA, the state-run oil company, alongside business partner Alex Saab.
- Last month, Pulido pleaded guilty in a related bribery case, agreeing to cooperate against Maduro and forfeit $195 million in criminal proceeds; the State Department previously offered a $10 million reward for his arrest.
- Homeland Security Task Force spokesperson Nicole Navas Oxman confirmed the arrest Sunday, noting Pulido will make his initial court appearance Tuesday in Miami.
- Acting President Delcy Rodr faces pressure from Venezuela's ruling coalition to resist U.S. efforts to apprehend Venezuelan insiders, following the January ouster of Maduro by the U.S. military under the Trump administration.
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New York Post
Maduro-linked fugitive nabbed over alleged scheme to cash in on Venezuelans’ basic needs
A fugitive accused of getting rich off programs meant to help Venezuelans is now in U.S. custody, facing charges in a sprawling corruption scandal tied to Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
La Razón
www.diariolibre.comÁlvaro Pulido Vargas, former partner of former Venezuelan minister Alex Saab, is accused in a Florida court of participating in two alleged money laundering and bribery schemes
U.S. Attorney General announced that Álvaro Pulido Vargas is detained in the U.S.
The US announced the arrest of Colombian Álvaro Pulido Vargas, former partner of former Venezuelan minister Alex Saab, linked to Maduro's case.
Álvaro Pulido Vargas was already being prosecuted in Venezuela, where he had been imprisoned since 2023 for hijacking several million dollars.
The Colombian businessman, Alex Saab’s partner, was wanted for years by the U.S. Justice, which accuses him of paying bribes to top Venezuelan officials in exchange for lucrative state contracts. Washington offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest, although the authorities did not specify how he ended up in U.S. custody.
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