A Uruguayan man pleaded guilty to conspiring to move nearly $100,000 into the United States through an unlicensed money transfer operation in an effort to evade American sanctions tied to Venezuelan government officials, the Justice Department announced.
Irazmar Carbajal De Jesus, 60, agreed to transfer approximately $99,500 in cash from the Dominican Republic into a bank account in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to court documents. Undercover agents told Carbajal’s partner that the funds originated from a sanctioned Venezuelan government official who needed help moving the money into the United States.
Carbajal and his partner agreed to charge a 20 percent fee for the service, prosecutors said. As part of the arrangement, he proposed creating fraudulent invoices to justify the transactions to banks, and spreading the funds across multiple accounts to conceal their movement. Carbajal referred to the money in coded language, describing it as a “boy who needs to be taken to school,” according to the Justice Department.
Carbajal pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 12 and faces a maximum of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the final sentence after weighing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s International Corruption Unit in Miami and announced by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, and FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles.
Trial Attorney Barbara Levy of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nalina Sombuntham for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section focuses on dismantling criminal financial networks, targeting money launderers who move profits for drug cartels, corrupt foreign officials, and transnational organized crime groups, according to the Justice Department.
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