Prosecutors in New York are expected to bring new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores over the alleged torture of Americans who were held in Venezuelan government custody in recent years.

Axar.az reports, citing CNN, that an announcement could come as soon as Thursday, multiple people familiar with the investigation said.

The new charges relate to what the US government has said was the wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens in Venezuelan prisons during the time Maduro led a repressive regime in Venezuela, the people briefed on the investigation said.

Investigators have also discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the torture of Americans, according to a source familiar with the matter.