Accused Maduro front man Alex Saab ordered on house arrest while fighting U.S. extradition

A Cape Verde court ruled Thursday that Alex Saab, the man accused by the U.S. of being a front man for Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, can be held under house arrest while he tries to fight an extradition request to face corruption charges in South Florida.

The ruling came a day after Donald Trump left the White House and followed requests from his lawyers, who said the Colombian businessman suffers from poor health aggravated by the harsh conditions of his imprisonment.

“We are very happy with the decision,” said Baltaza Garzón, who heads Saab’s defense team, adding that it “should have occurred a long time ago.”

Earlier this month, the Cape Verdean Court of Appeals of Barlavento approved a U.S. request to extradite Saab in order to face federal charges in South Florida. Prosecutors allege he embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars from Venezuelan state coffers, but the decision is under appeal before the highest court of the island.

While requesting to be placed under house arrest, his lawyers argued that Saab has spent more than seven months in prison “under inhumane conditions that have directly affected his delicate state of health.” They also argued that he is not a flight risk.

Saab, born in Barranquilla and of Lebanese descent, has been linked to several companies, including Group Grand Limited, accused of running a corruption scheme through a food aid program known locally as CLAP, run by the Maduro regime.

According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab, along with Maduro’s stepsons, embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars through the government program.

The U.S. brought charges against Saab and right-hand man Álvaro Enrique Pulido for allegedly laundering up to $350 million. .

A few hours before receiving the court decision in his favor, Saab sent a public letter celebrating the end of the Trump administration, which took a hard-line stance against Maduro, instead supporting opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president.

“I have had an ‘abundance of time’ to try to understand why Donald Trump was so committed to attacking the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and those of us who work to help the people of Venezuela meet their basic needs,” Saab wrote in the letter.

He went on to accuse Trump of hating “almost everything that is alive, except for himself.”