In brief
A Colombian national was taken into custody by U.S. authorities for allegedly moving more than $2 bn that was siphoned from Venezuela’s state‑run welfare plan. Pulido, 62, was arrested in a Homeland Security Task Force operation on Sunday, while the reason he was in U.S. custody remains vague. Authorities charged him and four co‑defendants with laundering the proceeds of bribes that funded contracts to provide food and medicine to poor Venezuelans, and he is scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday. The arrest comes two months after former Venezuelan ally Alex Saab pled guilty in a U.S. court to laundering $350 m from a separate scheme, underscoring Washington’s push to dismantle corruption networks tied to the Maduro regime.
A Colombian national has been taken into custody by U.S. authorities for allegedly moving more than $2 bn in money that was siphoned from Venezuela’s state‑run welfare plan.
Pulido, 62, was arrested on Sunday in a Homeland Security Task Force operation, although officials said little about how he ended up in the United States.
He had been jailed in Venezuela since March 2023 for diverting profits from the state‑run oil company PDVSA, a move prosecutors say helped fund bribery schemes that promised the poor access to food and medicine.
The U.S. Department of Justice has now charged him and four co‑defendants with laundering the proceeds of the bribes, a crime that could bring decades behind bars.
Pulido’s case follows that of fellow Venezuelan ally Alex Saab, who in 2024 pled guilty in a U.S. court to laundering $350 m from a separate import‑export scheme. That trial came after Maduro was seized by U.S. forces in a January raid.
Pulido is scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday. The DEA and State Department had offered a $10 m reward for tips that led to his arrest.
The move is part of an escalating U.S. effort to dismantle networks that have helped the Venezuelan government finance corruption while stoking the country’s humanitarian crisis.
