The Cape Verde Court has authorized the extradition to the United States of the Colombian businessman Álex Saab, accused of being the figurehead of Nicolás Maduro. The information got confirmed by his lawyer, José Manuel Pinto Monteiro.
The Court of Appeals of Barlavento “approved the extradition” in a ruling “dated July 31,” Pinto told EFE, in a statement in Praia, the Cape Verdean capital.
You must read Five keys to understanding the capture of Alex Saab, the alleged financier of Nicolás Maduro
The Government of Cape Verde already approved last month the delivery of the alleged figurehead to the United States, although the final decision corresponded to the Barlavento Court of Appeals, which has come to endorse the ruling of the Executive.
Saab on the news
The Colombian Alex Saab was detained on June 12 when his plane stopped to refuel at the Amilcar Cabral International Airport on the northern island of Sal, in response to a US request made through Interpol for alleged crimes of money laundering. His name appeared in the press when former Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega accused him in 2017 of being one of Maduro’s figureheads.
Saab, born in the Colombian city of Barranquilla and of Lebanese origin, is related to several companies, including Group Grand Limited (GGL), accused of supplying surcharges to the Maduro regime with food and supplies for the government’s Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP).
A US government official indicated in July 2019 that with the CLAPs, which are delivered to the poorest, the Colombian businessman and three stepsons from Maduro profited, apparently, with “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
