WASHINGTON – A key figure in one of the largest military corruption scandals in US history will be returned to America to face punishment as part of a prisoner exchange with Venezuela, the White House announced Wednesday.
Leonard Francis, nicknamed “Fat Leonard” because of his 350-pound girth, will be extradited as part of the deal, in which Venezuela will also release 10 Americans and 21 jailed opposition politicians.
In exchange, Biden approved the release of Alex Saab, a key ally of Caracas strongman Nicolas Maduro.
Francis has admitted to offering up to $500,000 in cash and other bribes – including prostitutes – to Navy officials in exchange for confidential information that gave him the opportunity to bid on military contracts to service ships.
Prosecutors said that Francis’s Singapore-based company bilked the Navy of $35 million.
Six out of 10 Americans released, meanwhile, are classified by the US government as “wrongfully detained,” meaning they are suspected of being detained for political reasons.
Two others tried to oust Maduro in a failed 2020 coup mission.
The US released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country. AP
Biden bristled when asked Wednesday night about criticism of the prisoner exchange, which critics say could increase the risk to US citizens by incentivizing their detention.
“Are you concerned with giving back —” a reporter asked Biden on the White House lawn Wednesday.
“No!” snapped the president before walking into the White House.
The exchange followed another back-and-forth in which a reporter asked, “Why is it okay for the US to negotiate with the Maduro government?”
“Because we freed Americans, people who were illegally detained, and we made an agreement with Venezuela that they would have free elections, and so far they have maintained their requirements — and that’s it,” Biden said.
On Capitol Hill, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee said they were “deeply troubled by the weakness of the Biden administration—which continues to be blackmailed by foreign enemies using Americans as pawns.
“Alex Saab runs Maduro’s global money laundering empire and his ties to Hezbollah and drug cartels,” added Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho). “He is now free to do so again. Today’s exchange strengthens Maduro and makes Americans less safe around the world.”
Maduro has freed Americans in a series of previous deals with Washington – only to continue imprisoning more US citizens, including on charges that their relatives insist are fake or too harsh.
The agreement represents a bold effort by the US government to improve relations with the major oil-producing nation. Reuters
“These individuals have lost too much precious time with their loved ones, and their families suffer every day without them,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday afternoon announcing the latest deal.
Francis, who was born in Malaysia, was arrested in 2013 and pleaded guilty in 2015 to corruption and fraud charges.
He was placed under house arrest in San Diego in 2018 and faces up to 25 years behind bars at a sentencing hearing set for September 22, 2022.
On September 4, Francis disconnected his ankle monitor and escaped house arrest, traveling through Mexico and Cuba before stopping at Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas.
US concessions
In exchange for Francis and other detainees, the US released Alex Saab, who was arrested on an American warrant for alleged money laundering in 2020.
Alex Saab, a Maduro ally, was arrested on a US warrant for money laundering in 2020. AFP via Getty Images
The Venezuelan government described Saab as a “victim” of “illegal detention” and described his release as a “symbol of victory” achieved through the country’s “peaceful diplomacy”. The government, in a statement, urged the US to remove all sanctions against Venezuela.
In October, the White House eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas and mining industries but threatened to reimpose sanctions if Maduro, by November 30, did not fulfill his promise to pave the way for free and fair elections next year. He is seeking in 2024 to add six years to his decades-long crisis-ridden presidency. That deadline has passed and Maduro has so far failed to lift the ban that prevented his main opponent, María Corina Machado, from running for office.
Biden told reporters earlier Wednesday that, so far, Maduro appears to be “guarding his comments about free elections.”
“We are ensuring that the Venezuelan regime fulfills its commitments,” read the White House statement. “They have announced an electoral roadmap – agreed by the opposition parties – for a competitive Presidential election in 2024. This [is] a positive and important step forward.”
The agreement also guaranteed the release of 10 Americans who had been detained in Venezuela, including six who had been determined by the US government to be wrongfully detained. Venezuelan Presidency/AFP via Getty Images Among the Americans behind bars in Venezuela are two former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were involved in an attempt to oust Maduro in 2019. Venezuelan Presidency/AFP via Getty Images
Among the Americans behind bars in Venezuela are two former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were involved in an attempt to overthrow Maduro in 2019. Also detained are Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore and Joseph Cristella, who are accused of entering Venezuela illegally from Colombia . Recently, Venezuela arrested Savoi Wright, a 38-year-old California businessman.
The US has had several exchanges with Venezuela over the past few years. The most notable was an October 2022 deal for seven Americans, including five oil executives at Houston-based Citgo, in exchange for the release of two nephews of Maduro’s wife jailed in the US on narcotics charges.
Saab, 51, was pulled from a private jet during a fuel stop in Cape Verde en route to Iran, where he was sent to negotiate an oil deal on behalf of the Maduro government. The US charge is conspiracy to commit money laundering linked to a bribery scheme that allegedly siphoned off $350 million through a government contract to build affordable housing for the Venezuelan government.
Saab had previously been sanctioned by the Treasury Department for allegedly running a scheme that included Maduro’s inner circle and stole hundreds of millions of dollars from food import contracts at a time of widespread hunger mainly due to shortages in the South American country.
Maduro’s government argues that Saab is a Venezuelan diplomat entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution under international law. But his defense attorney said last year in a closed-door hearing before his arrest that Saab had been secretly cooperating with the Drug Enforcement Administration. They say he helped the DEA unravel corruption in Maduro’s inner circle and agreed to forfeit millions of dollars in illegal proceeds from corrupt state contracts.
But the value of the information he shared with the Americans was unknown; some have suggested it may be a ploy authorized by Maduro to gather intelligence on US law enforcement activities in Venezuela. In any case, Saab missed the May 2019 surrender date and shortly thereafter, he was indicted by federal prosecutors in Miami.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
