Fugitive businessman taken into US custody in Venezuela bribery case

MIAMI (AP) — A businessman wanted for years in the U.S. for allegedly paying bribes to top Venezuelan officials in exchange for lucrative state contracts in Venezuela has been taken into custody.

Alvaro Pulido was indicted in Miami federal court in 2019 and again in 2021 as part of an investigation into his longtime business partner, Alex Saab, a one-time ally of ousted President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and State Department had been offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest.

Pulido was taken into U.S. custody after an investigation led by the DEA, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agencies, Nicole Navas Oxman, a Homeland Security Task Force spokesperson, said Sunday.

Oxman didn't say how Pulido ended up in U.S. custody but said he will make his initial court appearance Tuesday in Miami.

Venezuelan authorities have so far been silent about the arrest, reflecting the challenge acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces appeasing elements of the ruling coalition that want her to resist attempts by the Trump administration to round up scores of Venezuelan insiders wanted by the U.S., sometimes for years, for serious crimes ranging from corruption to drug trafficking.

The Colombian-born Pulido was arrested in Venezuela in 2023 as part of a sprawling crackdown on corruption inside state-run oil company PDVSA that was led by Rodríguez while she was serving as Maduro's vice president. She took over as Venezuela's acting president following the U.S. military's ouster of Maduro in January.

Prosecutors allege that Pulido, together with Saab, created a network of offshore shell companies to funnel bribes to top Maduro allies in exchange for contracts to import food, medicine and low-cost housing at a time of widespread hardship in the South American country.

Saab, who also hails from Colombia, was deported to the U.S. by Rodríguez in May. Last month, he pleaded guilty in a related bribery case, agreeing to cooperate against Maduro and other individuals and forfeit $195 million in criminal proceeds from the corruption scheme.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington.