Venezuela arrests U.S. fugitive as part of oil graft purge

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Authorities in Venezuela have charged with corruption a businessman who is a fugitive in a separate U.S. money laundering case targeting a top ally of President Nicolás Maduro. Images shared by Venezuela’s government show Alvaro Pulido escorted by a masked security agent on his way to an initial judicial hearing in Caracas late Thursday. Pulido was taken into custody as part of a sprawling investigation into corruption in the state-run oil company focused on the payment of massive bribes in exchange for lucrative oil contracts. Pulido stands out among the more than 50 alleged schemers already arrested because of his relationship to Alex Saab, a fellow Colombian charged with him in Miami for money laundering.