Alvaro Pulido Vargas, a Colombian national, is set to make his initial appearance on Tuesday, October 13, in the Southern District of Florida to face federal charges tied to Venezuelan bribery and money laundering schemes worth billions. Prosecutors accuse him of laundering more than $2 billion in connection with alleged kickbacks involving Venezuelan government officials tied to the Nicolás Maduro regime, using the U.S. financial system to hide profits. Pulido Vargas, 62, was charged in two separate federal indictments, first in 2019 and again in 2021. Court documents allege he was involved in laundering bribery and fraud proceeds tied to Venezuelan government programs and currency-related activities. In an October 2021 federal indictment, Pulido Vargas and four co-defendants were accused of laundering proceeds from a bribery scheme involving about $1.6 billion in Venezuelan government contracts. The contracts were allegedly linked to CLAP, a Venezuelan government-controlled program intended to provide food and medicine. Prosecutors allege that between roughly July 2015 and at least 2020, the defendants secured lucrative CLAP-related contracts by paying bribes to Venezuelan officials. They allegedly inflated contract costs to fund the bribes and enrich themselves, then moved the illicit proceeds through bank accounts in Antigua, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and elsewhere. As a result of the scheme, the defendants allegedly received about $1.6 billion from the Venezuelan government and transferred about $180 million through or to the United States, including accounts in the Southern District of Florida. Pulido Vargas was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of money laundering, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. In a separate case, Pulido Vargas and Alex Nain Saab Moran were indicted in July 2019 for allegedly laundering about $350 million connected to bribery tied to Venezuela’s government-controlled currency exchange system. The alleged conspiracy, from about November 2011 through at least September 2015, involved laundering proceeds through bank accounts in the United States. Pulido Vargas is charged and awaiting his court appearance in the Southern District of Florida on October 13, with the case proceeding through the federal prosecution process.