In brief
A 62‑year‑old Colombian businessman, Álvaro Pulido, was arrested by a U.S. Homeland Security Task Force on Sunday in connection with a $2 billion money‑laundering plot involving Venezuela’s welfare system and state‑run oil company PDVSA. Pulido, who has been jailed in Venezuela since March 2023, was accused of bribing officials to secure contracts for food and medicine, massively overcharging the government and moving the illicit profits through overseas banks. U.S. authorities had offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. He is slated to appear in federal court on Tuesday. The arrest follows similar charges against Alex Saab, a close Venezuelan ally who recently pleaded guilty to a $350 million laundering scheme.
Álvaro Pulido, 62, a Colombian national, was detained in the United States on Sunday on charges linked to a sprawling $2 billion money‑laundering scheme tied to Venezuela’s welfare system.
The Department of Justice said Pulido was arrested in a Homeland Security Task Force raid, though authorities did not disclose how he was transferred to U.S. custody.
Pulido had been in Venezuelan jail since March 2023 on accusations of siphoning profits from state‑run oil company PDVSA to fund bribery and fraudulent contracts with the government.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and State Department offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest, a figure highlighted in the DEA poster featuring Pulido’s photo.
He is due to appear in federal court on Tuesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Pulido’s case follows less than two months after Colombian businessman Alex Saab pleaded guilty to money‑laundering charges in a U.S. court. Prosecutors say Pulido and four co‑defendants bribed Venezuelan officials to secure contracts, overcharged the government, and laundered the profits through overseas accounts, including in the U.S. and Florida.
Pulido is said to have worked with Saab in a separate $350 million bribery scheme involving Venezuela’s currency‑exchange system, laundered through Florida bank accounts. Saab, once a minister under Nicolás Maduro, was extradited to the U.S. after Maduro was seized by U.S. forces in a January raid on Caracas and taken to New York for drug‑trafficking charges. Saab pleaded guilty to money‑laundering last month.
