US detains man accused in multi-billion Venezuelan money laundering scheme
US officials had been offering a reward of $10m (£7.5m) for information leading to Álvaro Pulido's arrest.
US detains man accused in multi-billion Venezuelan money laundering scheme
A Colombian man sought over allegations that he laundered money illegally diverted from a Venezuelan government welfare program has been detained in the United States.
The US Department of Justice said Álvaro Pulido, 62, was arrested on Sunday during a Homeland Security Task Force operation, but gave no further details on how he came into US custody.
Pulido had been held in Venezuela since March 2023, where he was accused of diverting profits from the state-run oil company PDVSA.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the State Department had offered a $10m (£7.5m) reward for information leading to his arrest.
According to a statement from the US Attorney's Office, he is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Pulido's arrest comes only two months after Alex Saab, another Colombian businessman with close links to the Venezuelan government, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in a US court.
The US State Attorney's Office said Pulido had been charged in two separate federal indictments "involving the alleged laundering of more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in connection with Venezuelan government bribery schemes".
US prosecutors say Pulido, together with four other co-defendants, bribed Venezuelan government officials to win contracts to supply food and medicine to poor Venezuelans.
They accuse Pulido of massively overcharging the Venezuelan government and laundering the proceeds through bank accounts overseas, including in the US.
They also allege that Pulido worked with Alex Saab to launder $350m from a separate bribery scheme tied to Venezuela's currency exchange system, using bank accounts in Florida.
Until recently, Saab was a powerful figure in the Venezuelan government with close ties to then-leader Nicolás Maduro, who named him minister of industry in 2024.
However, after Maduro was seized by US forces in a raid on Caracas in January and taken to New York to face drug-trafficking charges, Saab's situation changed rapidly.
Less than two weeks after Maduro was seized, the new US-backed interim government of Venezuela removed Saab from his role as minister, and in May it extradited him to the US.
Last month, Saab pleaded guilty to money laundering charges.