US Arrests Colombian Businessman in Venezuelan Corruption Case

US law enforcement arrested Colombian businessman Alvaro Pulido Vargas on October 11 on two federal indictments from 2019 and 2021. He is accused of laundering billions in bribery proceeds linked to Nicolas Maduro's government through the US financial system.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the arrest on X, stating Pulido corrupted Venezuelan food, medicine, and housing programs for personal gain. Blanche vowed the Justice Department would pursue such criminals regardless of time or distance.

“No amount of time or distance will stop the Department of Justice from working with our federal law enforcement and international partners to pursue these criminals and bring them to justice in an American courtroom.”

Prosecutors allege Pulido and associates paid bribes to win CLAP program contracts worth roughly $1.6 billion between 2015 and 2020. They then inflated prices to cover payoffs and enrich themselves, using US banks to hide the profits.

Pulido, 62, also known as German Enrique Rubio Salas, was previously convicted of drug trafficking in Italy in 1997 under that alias. He is currently held in the Federal Bureau of Prisons system under register number 55632-506.

He is scheduled to appear in federal court in South Florida on October 13. DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said the arrest culminates a years-long pursuit across borders by the Homeland Security Task Force.