Alex Saab's lawyer says he seeks to avoid his extradition from Cape Verde

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(Credit: TCV)

(CNN Spanish) - The defense of Colombian businessman Alex Saab in Cape Verde reported on Monday that he is preparing his strategy to prevent the extradition of his client from said territory, where he was arrested on Friday by local authorities.

The capture of Saab, accused in the United States of bribing Venezuelan officials and of money laundering, was made "after the activation of the Interpol red alert," his lawyer in the United States, María Domínguez, confirmed to CNN.

In statements to the TCV channel in Cape Verde, lawyer José Pinto Monteiro confirmed that they will seek to avoid his transfer to another nation. He also expressed that there are countries concerned about the Saab situation, relatively powerful countries that have a relationship with Cape Verde, without specifying which ones he was referring to.

The prosecutor of Cape Verde, José Landim, told the local newspaper “A Nacao” that that country does not have an extradition agreement with the United States, but that it operates under the principle of reciprocity as members of the UN in causes of corruption, organized crime and drug trafficking, among others. And he added that the requesting country has 18 days to formalize its request.

Landim pointed out that, according to the arrest warrant issued through Interpol, Saab is being investigated for money laundering crimes. He stressed that he has the possibility of filing an appeal against this coercive measure before the local Supreme Court of Justice. A measure that the defense announced soon after.

Saab also faces criminal charges in his native Colombia. According to the Colombian Prosecutor's Office, "this person is pointed out by the international agencies to be a figurehead of Nicolás Maduro and to seize millionaire resources destined for the purchase of food and markets that reached higher and broken prices."

From Caracas and in a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela stated that this is an arbitrary detention and that, in his opinion, it violates international law and standards. The Foreign Ministry considers that the capture of Saab is part of what it describes as acts of aggression and siege by the United States against Venezuela. In the document, they highlight that Saab has Venezuelan nationality, that he is a government agent with diplomatic immunity and that he was taking steps in matters of food.

Precisely and according to a statement from the US Treasury Department As of July 25, 2019, Saab benefited from "overpriced contracts," including Venezuela's government food subsidy program, and participated in illicit operations with that country's gold.

In that statement, Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted that "we are targeting those behind Maduro's sophisticated corruption schemes, as well as the global network of shell companies that benefit from the Army-controlled food distribution program."