A man accused of participating in massive money laundering and bribery schemes linked to Venezuelan officials has been arrested by U.S. authorities and will appear in court in Florida this week, federal prosecutors said on Sunday.
Álvaro Pulido Vargas, 62, of Colombia, was indicted in 2019 and 2021 on charges of laundering more than $2 billion in bribery and fraud proceeds tied to the regime of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. Mr. Maduro was captured in Venezuela by the U.S. military in January and taken to New York City to await trial on federal drug charges.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida announced Mr. Pulido Vargas’s arrest in a news release on Sunday, saying that he was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when or where he had been arrested.
Mr. Pulido Vargas “is no longer a fugitive from justice,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in the news release.
Federal prosecutors did not immediately respond to a message seeking details. There was no lawyer listed for Mr. Pulido Vargas in dockets for the two indictments.
Mr. Pulido Vargas and Alex Saab, a former high-ranking Venezuelan official, were indicted in 2019, accused of laundering $350 million in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving Venezuela’s government-controlled currency exchange system, prosecutors said.
Mr. Saab pleaded guilty last month to one count of money laundering, raising speculation that federal prosecutors could use his plea to strengthen their case against Mr. Maduro.
As part of the plea, Mr. Saab agreed to cooperate with investigators.
The 2021 indictment charges Mr. Pulido Vargas and four co-defendants with laundering proceeds from another alleged bribery scheme involving $1.6 billion in Venezuelan government contracts to provide food and medicine, prosecutors said.
“The allegations describe a profound betrayal of the Venezuelan people; corrupting government programs intended to provide critical food, medicine, and housing for personal enrichment,” Jason A. Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in the news release.
Mr. Maduro presided over an economic collapse that led to runaway inflation, dire shortages and a staggering exodus of Venezuelans from the country. The country continues to struggle with deep poverty and high food costs under its interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.
Mr. Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York. A trial is scheduled for next year.
The Justice Department recently announced new charges against the couple, accusing them of torturing detainees, including American citizens. A lawyer for Mr. Maduro has said that he denies the new charges.
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