Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia’s president-elect, was investigated in the United States while living in Miami and representing clients in criminal cases, according to reporting from the New York Times published July 25, 2026. The investigation centered on his role in a money-laundering case involving a Venezuelan corruption figure and a University of Miami professor.
De la Espriella, a criminal defense lawyer who practiced in Florida for more than a decade, served as personal attorney to Alex Saab from 2013 to 2019. Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman, was later indicted in the United States on charges including money laundering for allegedly helping Venezuela’s socialist regime engineer hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud schemes and launder the proceeds globally.
In November 2019, University of Miami international studies professor Bruce Bagley was indicted on federal charges of laundering almost $3 million. Bagley later pleaded guilty to helping Saab move embezzled Venezuelan funds through Miami bank accounts. According to sources close to the case, de la Espriella helped connect Bagley to Saab, though de la Espriella has long claimed he only met Bagley once and knew nothing of Bagley’s relationship with Saab.
De la Espriella was Saab’s personal attorney during the period when Saab was allegedly engaged in the lion’s share of his criminal activity for the Venezuelan regime, according to Florida International University Latin America expert Eduardo Gamarra. Saab allegedly used shell companies to defraud Venezuela’s government food import program for low-income citizens, known as CLAP, by charging inflated prices for diluted, tainted, or non-existent products, then pocketing the proceeds with corrupt Venezuelan officials and laundering the money around the globe.
In June 2026, as de la Espriella’s presidential campaign gained momentum, Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche calling for a formal investigation. The lawmakers expressed “grave concern” about de la Espriella’s ties to paramilitaries designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government, his connections to Saab, and suspicious Florida real estate transactions involving funds whose source was unclear.
The letter, signed by Representative Jesús García of Illinois and ten other progressive Democrats including Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Pramila Jayapal of Washington, noted that de la Espriella and his spouse were connected to at least fourteen Florida-based apparent shell companies and multiple multi-million-dollar real estate purchases. Evidence suggested at least one transaction may have been funded in part by Saab, who was under indictment for money laundering.
De la Espriella obtained U.S. citizenship in February 2023 after completing the naturalization process in Florida. He holds dual U.S. and Colombian citizenship, as well as Italian citizenship by birth. Despite the legal questions surrounding his candidacy and his investigation history, he won Colombia’s presidential runoff on June 21, 2026, with the endorsement of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sources
- New York Times — reported July 25, 2026, that de la Espriella was investigated in the U.S. while representing clients
- WLRN — detailed de la Espriella’s role as Saab’s attorney and his connection to the Bagley money-laundering case
- EL PAÍS — reported June 18, 2026, on Democratic lawmakers’ letter calling for investigation into de la Espriella’s ties to paramilitaries, Saab, and suspicious real estate transactions
