US Arrests Fugitive in $2B Venezuela Bribery Case

Alvaro Pulido Vargas, a Colombian businessman wanted for years in the United States, has been taken into U.S. custody and is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Miami. He faces indictments from 2019 and 2021 alleging that he and business partner Alex Saab used bribery, offshore companies and the U.S. financial system to conceal proceeds from Venezuelan government contracts, including contracts for food and medicine through the CLAP program. Prosecutors say the schemes involved roughly $1.6 billion in contracts and, in a separate case, about $350 million in alleged money laundering; Pulido is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The arrest followed a joint U.S. law-enforcement investigation, while Venezuelan authorities have remained publicly silent.