Maduro ally Saab to plead not guilty to money laundering -lawyer

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks by a mural in support of the liberation of Colombian businessman and envoy Alex Saab, who is detained in Cape Verde on charges of laundering money for the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

(Reuters) -Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who became a special envoy for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, will plead not guilty to money laundering charges when arraigned on Monday, his lawyer Henry Bell told Reuters.

In a case that pits the United States against Maduro's socialist administration, Saab was arrested last year in Cape Verde during a refueling stop en route to Iran and extradited to the United States earlier this month.