US Frees Maduro Ally for ‘Fat Leonard’ Amid Prisoner Swap

Andreina Itriago Acosta and Jennifer Jacobs
·3 min read
2
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela freed 10 Americans and handed over an infamous defense contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” in exchange for a close ally and financier of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, a blockbuster exchange that’s part of a broader diplomatic detente between the two adversaries.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The financier, Alex Saab, was swapped for Americans including Luke Denman and Airan Berry, two former Green Berets who were jailed on terrorism allegations over a failed 2020 plot to try to overthrow Maduro, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations.

The exchange took place in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with the Maduro administration also agreeing to release 20 Venezuelan political prisoners held in the country, according to the White House. The Venezuelan government said in a statement posted on X that Saab had been returned to Venezuela.

Along with the prisoners, the US secured the transfer of Leonard Francis, a Malaysian defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” who in 2015 pleaded guilty in a US court in a massive bribery scandal. The Justice Department said Wednesday he’s been arrested and returned to the US.

The swap follows an Oct. 17 agreement that committed Maduro to bring about fairer presidential elections next year. The Biden administration suspended some sanctions targeting his government and Venezuela’s state-run oil company a day later and said it expected him to start releasing American prisoners or face a re-imposition of the penalties.

President Joe Biden said Maduro is honoring promises to adopt political reforms.

“It looks like Maduro, so far, is keeping his commitment on a free election,” Biden told reporters Wednesday, shortly before the deal was announced.

From Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Maduro thanked Biden and others who made the deal possible, including Qatar, which helped facilitate conversations between his authorities and US officials.

“Truth and justice have triumphed,” Maduro said while receiving Saab. “We have to talk about so many things.”

The prisoner exchange had been in the works for some time, and the biggest surprise about the deal was the agreement over Francis. He admitted to bribing US government employees with millions of dollars in gifts, including cash, prostitutes, luxury travel, Cuban cigars and Kobe beef in exchange for classified information, officials said. While he was awaiting sentencing under house arrest, he cut off his ankle tracking bracelet and fled to Venezuela.

US officials have repeatedly said that the Venezuelan sanctions relief wasn’t tied to any negotiations for the release of wrongfully detained Americans, but would instead be based on outcomes toward more fair elections.

Read More: Secret Talks, Oil Sanctions: Inside a US-Venezuela Breakthrough

Maduro has long sought freedom for Saab, a Colombian businessman who is considered to be one of the most powerful supporters of his regime. Saab was accused in 2019 of bribing Venezuelan officials and funneling more than $350 million to overseas accounts as part of a food program intended to serve those going hungry in Venezuela.

Saab was extradited from Cape Verde to the US in October 2021 to face money laundering charges. He was originally detained in June 2020 while his plane traveling from Venezuela to Iran made a stop to refuel.

Read More: Maduro Does Whatever It Takes to Stay in Charge in Venezuela

Among the Venezuelans released is Roberto Abdul, a director at Sumate, a civic-action group that he co-founded with opposition candidate María Corina Machado.

In early December, the Maduro government ordered his arrest along with that of three aides to Machado for their alleged involvement in a plot to sabotage a referendum on the disputed Essequibo region in Guyana. While Abdul was captured, the three others were hiding from authorities. Their arrest warrants have now been suspended as a part of the deal, according to an e-mailed statement from the White House.

(Updates with Maduro comments in seventh and eighth paragraphs. A previous version of this story was corrected to remove a reference to other Venezuelans being released by the US.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.