CARACAS, Venezuela — A scandal-plagued billionaire tycoon close to Venezuela’s deposed president, Nicolás Maduro, was extradited to the United States on Saturday, Venezuela’s government said.

The extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian-born businessperson whom U.S. prosecutors have accused of enriching himself through government contracts, marks an escalation of a purge by Venezuela’s new acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. She is targeting figures who helped keep Maduro in power for more than a decade.

Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and rose to power with the Trump administration’s blessing after U.S. forces captured Maduro in January, fired Saab from his post as industry minister shortly after Maduro was seized and taken to the United States.

Her government detained Saab in early February at the Trump administration’s request.

U.S. prosecutors have claimed that Saab controls some of Maduro’s funds, raising speculation that they could use his extradition to strengthen their case against Maduro. The deposed leader is currently being held in New York, where he has been charged with conspiracies to commit narco-terrorism and import cocaine, along with other counts.

Lawyers representing Saab in Venezuela could not be reached for comment.

U.S. prosecutors have accused Saab of being involved in a scheme in which he and others used shell companies and no-bid contracts to siphon government money intended to ease starvation when the economy crashed a decade ago.