While Álex Saab from Barranquilla awaits the final verdict of the trial he faces for money laundering, from the cell in which he remains detained in Miami, Revealing details of its shady network continue to be revealed.
A report published by Armando.info, a media outlet dedicated to investigative journalism and whose work has been awarded prizes such as the Pulitzer, brings to light the existence of an office operated from the Russian capital, through the which Álex Saab managed his businesses.
From photographs, interviews and documentary sources they gave an account of the operation of the headquarters from where Saab continued with his movements while still in jail. Among the revelations that emerged from this work, the work of a hitherto unknown token on the board of the figurehead of Nicolás Maduro stands out.
Álex Nain Saab Morán’s businesses were left in the hands of María Camila Ballen Hernández, a young woman from Cúcuta, a city on the border with Venezuela.
Under his charge, the office near the famous Red Square in Moscow worked, which did not stop, not even following the capture of the Colombian in June 2020, in Cape Verde.
The 27-year-old woman “has been in charge of finances in the Saab office and family in Russia,” as described by one of the sources consulted by Armando.info.
Far away from their homeland, Colombians met to ‘do business’.
“Before the arrest of the Barranquilla tycoon, Álex Saab and María Camila Ballen maintained communication through chats on the Russian social network Telegram. Some of the millionaire bank transactions were reported in a device dedicated exclusively to it, such as, for example, the one made on March 6, 2021: “Code 33133232 to sign a payment for an amount of 89,000,000 rubles 000”details the investigation of Armando.info.
As detailed in the media, Ballen’s tasks were several, from keeping the shell companies afloat that served to continue moving money to sending the “respective salary” to Saab’s family, for his participation in the boards of the companies to office.
In his name, different companies were also registered that served to cover up Saab’s operations and even to continue negotiating Venezuelan oil, together with Álvaro Pulido. Loran, Stormi, Neptuno, Proton, Hades and Puls Llc are some of the companies in which María Camila Ballen appears.
These moves continued even following the arrest of the great figurehead, since the material found gave proof of a transaction for one million rubles, coming from “the sale of the shares of the Mulberry Rus company to Elvira Vladimirovna Shevchenko, a citizen who repeats as a member of the board of directors in other Russian companies of the Colombian businessman”they detail.
Even in his home he received the correspondence that Camila Fabri, Álex Saab’s wife, sent him from Venezuela, following the businessman’s arrest. These interactions show how close Ballen became to his family.
The young Colombian “He did not answer the interview requests that were made to him via email, nor the direct messages sent to his social networks. After contacts, she changed her profile picture”, indicated the portal. For the moment, María Camila Ballen remains in Moscow.
The headquarters in Moscow
Fleeing from the mallet of justice, the Barranquillero had been leaving traces in several countries, such as Malta, Panama, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, where he did the same: he located his companies and operated his illicit businesses.
About the office, the investigation of the Venezuelan media indicated that it was located in an area near the traditional and popular Red Square, on Nikolskaya street. From there, the contractor for the Maduro regime and his team led a network that made it possible for them to carry out their plans. “Large bank transactions, bundles of euros and dollars that were stored in a safe, and even parties, everything happened through and in that place,” they highlighted.
He also took his wife
After being linked to her husband’s shady business, Camilla Fabri had no choice but to follow in his footsteps and catch up with him in the Russian capital, where she sheltered from the eye of the storm.
“Fabri lived in an apartment on Nashchokinskiy Street, also near Red Square and not far from the Nikolskaya office, but closer to the Moscow River. There he remained until Saab’s extradition to the United States, which was executed on October 16 last year.”, revealed the investigation.
It was not the only one, Luis Saab, his brother, and his eldest sons, Shadi and Isham Saab, also appeared in the happy office, according to the known material.