In brief
The United States has detained Álvaro Pulido, a 62‑year‑old Colombian businessman alleged to have laundered more than $2 billion from Venezuelan government schemes. Pulido, who had been jailed in Venezuela since March 2023, was taken into custody during a Homeland Security Task Force operation and is due to appear in federal court on Tuesday. The charges, brought by the Department of Justice, accuse him of bribing officials, overcharging for government contracts, and moving illicit proceeds through U.S. banks. Pulido’s case follows the recent plea by Alex Saab, another Colombian tied to Maduro’s regime, and highlights U.S. authorities’ intensified efforts against Venezuelan corruption.
US detains Colombian man accused in multi‑billion Venezuelan money laundering scheme
The United States Department of Justice announced that 62‑year‑old Álvaro Pulido, a Colombian national, was arrested in Washington during a Homeland Security Task Force raid on Sunday. Sources say Pulido was taken into custody as part of a broader effort to clamp down on alleged Venezuelan corruption networks.
Pulido has been in Venezuelan jail since March 2023 on accusations of siphoning profits from the state‑run oil company PDVSA. US prosecutors claim he bribed government officials to secure contracts that supplied food and medicine to poor Venezuelans, overcharged the state, and laundered the excess through bank accounts abroad, including in the United States.
Both Pulido and four co‑defendants face two federal indictments that allege the laundering of more than $2 billion tied to Venezuelan bribery schemes. Pulido is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The arrest comes just two months after Alex Saab, another Colombian businessman closely linked to President Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to money‑laundering charges involving $350 million from a separate scheme that manipulated Venezuela’s currency‑exchange system.
Saab’s case underscores the shifting fortunes of Venezuelan allies after the U.S. raid on Caracas in January, which saw Maduro seized and taken to New York for drug‑trafficking charges. Within weeks, the U.S.–backed interim government removed Saab from his ministerial post and in May extradited him to the United States.
Pulido’s detention reflects a broader crackdown on corruption networks that tie Venezuelan officials to illicit overseas financial flows, signaling a renewed U.S. focus on the economic underpinnings of the Maduro regime.
