The Constitutional Court of Cape Verde authorized the extradition of Alex Saab to the United States

The Constitutional Court of Cape Verde authorized the extradition of Alex Saab to the United States. The leading figure of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, was arrested on June 12, 2020 when his plane stopped for refueling at Amilcar Cabral International Airport on the island of Sal, responding to a request from Washington processed by Interpol for suspected money laundering offenses.

With your decision, the Constitutional Court rejected the claims of Saab’s defense lawyers, who had questioned the constitutionality of the process since Maduro’s leader was arrested over a year ago.

However, the magistrates ratified all the interventions of the various judicial bodies of the trial against Saab and now all that remains is to carry out the extradition process, a procedure that can take several days.

The businessman’s name appeared in the media when the former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz He accused him in 2017 of being one of the leading men of the Venezuelan president.

The Venezuelan opposition called Saab like him “Architect of a network of corruption”, in response to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which considered him a “diplomat”.

“Saab was the architect of a network of corruption and crime that looted billions of dollars from the country, and that is why he must answer to justice”, wrote on Twitter Jules Borges, appointed by Juan Guaidó commissioner for foreign relations, in a message reproduced in an opposition statement.

Who is Alex Saab

Alex Saab – of Lebanese origin and born in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia – is linked to several companies. But his main connection to Maduro would go through Grand Limited Group (GGL), suitable for selling to the diet food at subsidized prices to distribute in poor neighborhoods.

However, Saab and Maduro have been accused on different occasions of using the program, known as CLAP, for illegally seize hundreds of millions of dollars.

In fact, Saab, along with three of Maduro’s stepchildren and nine others, were sanctioned in July 2019 by the United States for this precise maneuver.. For this reason, everyone has froze any assets or real estate they might have in the United States.

Alex Saab engaged with Maduro’s informants to lead a large-scale corruption network that they cruelly used to exploit the starving population of Venezuela. The Treasury is targeting those behind Maduro’s sophisticated bribery schemes, as well as the global network of front companies profiting from the former regime’s military-controlled food distribution program.», Explained at the time the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Steven mnuchin.

“The corruption network that runs the CLAP program has allowed Maduro and his relatives to rob the Venezuelan people. They use food as a form of social control, to reward political supporters and punish opponents, while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars through a series of fraudulent schemes.“He added.

Although he remained a low-key and irrelevant businessman in Colombia, Saab’s name appeared in the media when the former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega accused him in 2017 of being one of Maduro’s leading men.

The decision of the Constitutional Court:

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