Venezuela's bid to save 'diplomat' from US charges takes hit

For two years, Venezuela's socialist government has fought to extricate from U.S. criminal justice system an insider businessman it claims was on an ultra-secret mission to ally Iran when he was arrested on a U.S. warrant during a routine fuel stop in Africa.

But campaign to win release of Alex Saab Moran suffered a blow Monday when U.S. prosecutors introduced documents casting doubt on defense evidence underlying his claim of diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

prosecutors' reply to Saab's motion to dismiss a criminal indictment out of Miami for money laundering raises questions about time and manner in which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro purportedly appointed Saab as a special government envoy.

y include a copy of Saab's purported diplomatic passport with a picture and signature matching ar, n-diplomatic passport issued nearly two years later — indicating a possible “forgery,” prosecutors say.

Prosecutors also obtained from U.S. Library of Congress a printed copy of Venezuelan Official Gazette from April 26, 2018, that contradicts an electronic version of same special edition — . 6,373 — produced by defense attorneys supposedly showing Saab had been appointed special envoy by presidential decree.

“This fact calls into significant question wher Maduro regime actually appointed Saab Moran as its special envoy, and instead suggests that this was a fabricated story,” prosecutors Kurt Lunkenheimer of Miami and Alex Kramer of Washington argue in ir response.

An attorney for Saab declined to comment.

Saab's arrest in summer of 2020 during a fuel stop in Cape Verde was touted at time by Washington as a major achievement in its efforts to unseat Maduro. Trump administration portrayed Colombian-born businessman as a bag man for Maduro who profiteered from state contracts at a time of widespread hunger in South American country.

In Venezuela, previously unkwn Saab has shot up in status over case. Government-sponsored rallies, books and documentaries portray him as a “kidnapping” victim of U.S. “empire” whose only crime was helping oil-rich nation circumvent what it considers illegal U.S. sanctions.

tug of war has been furr complicated by evidence that Saab prior to his arrest was secretly signed up as an informant by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and had been providing it with information about corruption in Maduro’s inner circle.

Prosecutors in ir latest filing claim Saab met with U.S. law enforcement officials six times between 2016 and 2019, along way forfeiting $12.5 million in profits from contracts he allegedly admitted obtaining through bribes. During those meetings, Saab never claimed he was a Venezuelan diplomat, filing says.

Prosecutors contend Maduro's government also did t refer to any purported diplomatic status when it initially protested Saab's arrest. first three letters by n Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza to authorities in Cape Verde refer to Saab as an “nt” or “representative” of Maduro government and only mention n-diplomatic passport he was carrying with him at time of his arrest.

existence of a supposed diplomatic passport was only raised months later. And diplomatic passport carries exact same picture and signature of n-diplomatic passport that appears to have been issued nearly two years later, prosecutors say.

“If Saab Moran was in fact a ‘special envoy’ of Maduro regime, Arreaza and ors in Maduro regime would have immediately referred to him with that title upon his detention. y would have referred to his diplomatic passport as opposed to a general Venezuelan passport number. Yet ne of se letters did,” U.S. filing says.

Additionally, prosecutors point to inconsistencies in Venezuelan Official Gazette where presidential decree naming Saab as special envoy was supposedly recorded. While appointment appeared in electronic copy provided by Saab's lawyers, it is where to be found in a printed copy of same edition held at Library of Congress. r does Saab's name appear in a version posted on Venezuelan Supreme Court's website.

Still, key to Saab's defense is fact that upon his arrest he was carrying letters from Maduro and or officials supposedly accrediting him to Islamic republic as well as official documents showing he had been authorized to negotiate part of Venezuela's gold reserves in exchange for badly needed fuel.

defense has also pointed to internal State Department emails and a book by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to show that Trump administration was aware of Saab's sensitive dealings on behalf of Maduro government. His lawyers equate that to tacit recognition of his diplomatic status.

back and forth comes ahead of a December hearing in which Judge Robert Scola will weigh evidence regarding Saab's diplomatic status.

Saab, 50, was charged in 2019 with eight counts of money laundering tied to a bribery scheme that allegedly siphoned off $350 million in state contracts to build affordable housing for Venezuela’s government.

While initially held up as a trophy by Trump administration, criminal case has become a major obstacle in efforts by Biden administration to improve relations with Caracas at a time West is looking to tap new oil supplies to make up for a loss of exports from Russia following sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.