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In the coming hours, the defense of the Barranquilla Álex Saab will demand that Cape Verde immediately comply with the decision of the West African Court of Justice that ordered him to be released from prison and given house arrest.
As this newspaper had anticipated, its defense praised that the terms had already expired so that his situation could be resolved without the Cape Verdean justice deciding to release him or extradite him to the United States.
(We invite you to read: DEA tracks two ex-allies of Álex Saab in Barranquilla)
Álex Saab is of Colombian and Venezuelan nationality. The regime gave him a diplomatic passport.
But EL TIEMPO established that his defense will go further. He will ask the same Court to order his release, at a hearing on January 10, 2021, on the grounds that the United States dropped 7 charges against Saab related to credit cards through which it injected resources into the financial system of the United States. United.
(You may be interested in: Attention: house arrest granted to Álex Saab)
These are the cards revealed last Sunday by EL TIEMPO that involve two Colombian businessmen in the case: Juan José and Reinaldo Slebi de la Rosa, renowned golfers, business owners in Colombia and Panama and members of an exclusive Barranquilla club.
This is the American Express card under the name Álvaro Pulido that the DEA tracks.
Álvaro Pulido, Saab partner and designated accomplice in the laundering operation for which the United States is processing them.
The American Express
EL TIEMPO established that among the transactions that appear in the file that served as support to request the capture of Saab in Cape Verde (on June 13) and now his extradition, there are at least seven in which the businessmen are mentioned.
Sources informed of the process confirmed to this newspaper that the money orders are linked to a credit card of Juan José Slebi, which covered Saab and Pulido: the numbers are 37695001271046 and 371695001272002, with an expiration date in April 2020 and October 2016 , respectively.
(Also: The Bogota woman in the DEA’s sights for twists and turns with Álex Saab)
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that DEA agents documented that Saab moved at least $ 420,000 to the United States. And this newspaper exclusively reveals photos of the American Express involved in the plot.
This is the American Express card of Juan José Slebi de la Rosa that covers the Saab and Pulido cards.
The US decided to drop 7 charges against Saab because they exceeded the sentence limits set in Cape Verde to extradite him. But they are firm
‘Charges remain firm’
It is being investigated if the silver is linked to exports of construction material, which entered Venezuela from Ecuador, irregularly. In fact, Saab was also investigated in that country for money laundering.
(Further: Saab says it has 26 cuts and that $ 700 million is not theirs)
But nevertheless, Federal sources told EL TIEMPO that they decided to drop the seven charges against Saab for those bank movements, because they exceeded the sentence limits established in Cape Verde to extradite someone. But legally they remain firm.
But Saab’s defense will argue before the West African Court of Justice that, technically, the charges do not exist in Cape Verde.
In addition, the Court recognized his status as a special agent of the Nicolás Maduro regime, for which his conviction was not applicable.
(In context: Maduro’s regime comes out again in defense of Álex Saab) To support the issue of the cards, he gave copies of the plastics in the name of Juan José Slebi and the two protected ones to Álex Saab and his friend and accomplice Álvaro Pulido.
‘Witnesses’
To establish their role and find out if they are third parties in good faith, EL TIEMPO looked for the Salebi brothers through their mobile phones, their home phones and an email. But as of press time, they had not responded to the direct messages left to them.
(See here all the articles of the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO)
Those close to the process assured that the businessmen would be summoned as witnesses by the United States justice in the proceedings against Saab.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
[email protected]
@UinvestigativaET
