In brief
Colombia’s Álvaro Pulido, accused of diverting more than $2bn from Venezuelan welfare contracts, was seized by U.S. authorities during a Homeland Security operation. The DOJ and DEA had offered a $10m reward for his capture. Pulido’s alleged scheme involved overcharging the government for food and medicine supplies and funneling the illicit proceeds into U.S. bank accounts. His case follows the guilty plea of Alex Saab, another Venezuelan ally, highlighting a broader crackdown on corruption tied to Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
A Colombian man named Álvaro Pulido, 62, has been arrested in the United States on suspicion of laundering more than $2 billion linked to Venezuelan government contracts. The U.S. Department of Justice announced his detention following a Homeland Security Task Force operation on Sunday.
Pulido has been held in Venezuela since March 2023 after accusations that he siphoned profits from the state‑run oil company PDVSA and then used those funds to bribe officials for contracts to supply poor Venezuelans with food and medicine.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and State Department had posted a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest, underscoring Washington’s interest in dismantling the alleged multi‑million‑dollar laundering network.
Pulido is set to appear before a federal court on Tuesday, as United States prosecutors claim he and four co‑defendants systematically overcharged the Venezuelan government and funneled the excess profits through bank accounts in the United States and other jurisdictions.
His case is part of a broader U.S. effort against corruption tied to the Maduro administration. Just two months earlier, fellow Venezuelan ally Alex Saab pleaded guilty to money‑laundering charges in a federal court after a separate scheme alleged to have moved $350 million through Florida banking institutions.
Saab’s fortunes shifted sharply following the U.S. raid on Caracas in January, which led to his detention and extradition. Subsequent changes in Venezuela’s interim government saw Saab dismissed from his ministerial role and ultimately sent to the United States, where he pleaded guilty last month.
Pulido’s arrest illustrates the U.S. strategy of targeting high‑level corruption linked to the Venezuelan state, aiming to recover illicit assets and hold officials accountable for the country’s ongoing economic crisis.
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