A federal judge in Miami on Monday agreed to a request from prosecutors and ordered that the evidence and documents presented in his defense by the Colombian businessman Alex Saab remain sealed and without access to the public, accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars obtained through corrupt deals with the Venezuelan government.
The judge’s decision Robert Scola occurred three days after the prosecution filed a motion requesting an order regulating the disclosure of evidence and sensitive information from Saab, claiming that include documents and reports about other people being investigated, other defendants, cooperating witnesses, and personal information such as names, identification numbers, postal and email addresses, bank accounts, and dates of birth.
In your order, prosecutors Kurt Lunkenheimer and Alexander Kramer They told the judge that they had consulted Saab’s lawyers and they agreed.
“The motion of the government is granted”, said Judge Scola in his three-page order, in which he explained that neither the prosecutors nor the defense of Saab should offer the evidence requested by the court to anyone, unless the court orders otherwise.
On the other hand, the Justice of the United States has brought Alex Saab’s hearing to December 6. Initially, the judicial process was scheduled for December 28, however, Judge Robert Scola has approved to advance the hearing in response to a motion presented by the defense.
Thus, this diligence It will be the prelude to the trial scheduled for January 3, where Saab should be present, and that in principle it is estimated that it can last up to two weeks.
Already last November 15 Saab pleaded not guilty before a Miami court on the money laundering charge for which he was extradited to the United States from Cape Verde in mid-October.
The hearing that day was originally scheduled for two weeks before, when Judge Scola agreed to dismiss, at the request of the prosecutors themselves, most of the money laundering charges to enforce a pact reached with the Government of Cabo Green, a country whose legislation provides for a limit of years in prison.
Saab was arrested on June 12, 2020 in Cape Verde at the request of the United States when he was on a resupply stopover. The businessman was extradited to the United States two weeks ago to be tried for a money laundering crime and for allegedly participating in a bribery ring.
The United States accuses him of laundering 350 million dollars (295 million euros) to pay for allegedly corruption of Maduro, who described the arrest as “kidnapping” and justified with it to put an end to the negotiations that his government had initiated with the opposition in Mexico.
(With information from AP and Europa Press)
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Source-www.infobae.com