US prosecutors charged Alex Saab, known as the “bag man” for former Venezuelan President Nicolas ​Maduro, with money laundering over his alleged exploitation of a Venezuelan ‌welfare plan, according to court filings unsealed on Monday.

Saab, a top ally of Maduro’s, was deported by Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez over the weekend to the US in a move that ​she said was “justified by national interests.”

The deportation signalled a new level of ​coordination between the Trump administration and Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president.

Saab, the ⁠55-year-old former Venezuelan minister of industry, conspired to bribe Venezuelan officials and transferred money ​through US bank accounts to enrich himself, prosecutors alleged.

He made his initial court ​appearance on Monday afternoon in a Miami federal court.

The charges come as the administration of President Donald Trump prepares to try Maduro, who was captured by US special forces in Caracas earlier this ​year.

Saab could provide US authorities with information to strengthen their criminal case against Maduro, Reuters ​previously reported.

In the court filings, prosecutors describe a sprawling scheme that began in 2015 in which ‌Saab ⁠and others used fake companies, shipping records and invoices to pilfer hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked to buy food for Venezuelans.

Starting in 2019, Saab and his alleged co-conspirators used their access to the Venezuelan government, which was struggling to pay foreign ​debts amid US economic ​sanctions, to sell ⁠billions of dollars of oil under pretences, prosecutors wrote, alleging that money from those sales was also transferred through US ​bank accounts.

“These charges are a direct result of the DEA’s continued ​commitment to ⁠dismantle the corrupt networks operating throughout Venezuela,” said US Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance Cole.

This is not the first time US authorities have held Saab on bribery charges. In ⁠2020, he ​was detained in Cape Verde and then taken ​to the US.

President Joe Biden later granted him clemency in 2023 in exchange for the release of Americans ​detained in Venezuela.