Wells Fargo Personal Banker Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/wells-fargo-personal-banker-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-charges

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 16, 2019

Wells Fargo Personal Banker Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges

SAN DIEGO – Luis Fernando Figueroa of Tijuana pleaded guilty in federal court today to money laundering charges, admitting that he worked with others to launder and transfer money to Mexico through accounts he opened up at Wells Fargo as a personal banker.

Figueroa’s arrest by the FBI in November 2018 was the last in a string of indictments and arrests tied to the international money laundering organization based in Tijuana, Mexico but operating primarily in San Diego. To date, eight former members and leaders of the organization have been arrested and charged in San Diego. Six of those arrested have pleaded guilty.

According to the indictment and other public records, the international money laundering organization laundered approximately $19.6 million dollars in narcotics proceeds on behalf of Mexican based drug trafficking organizations to include the Sinaloa Cartel between 2014 and 2016.
(snip)

According to court documents, the money laundering organization recruited individuals to serve as funnel account holders to open personal bank accounts at Wells Fargo Bank and other U.S. banks. Figueroa, as a personal banker with Wells Fargo, admitted in his plea agreement that he knowingly opened personal bank accounts at Wells Fargo for the funnel account holders, knowing that those personal accounts would be used to launder funds to Mexico.

Other members of the money laundering organization, known as couriers, travelled to Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, Boston, New Jersey, and New York City to pick up bulk cash narcotics proceeds that ranged from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in narcotics proceeds. The couriers made contact with individuals holding the bulk cash in private residences or public places such as parking lots and retail stores. The cash was typically concealed in shopping bags, duffel bags or shoeboxes.

Once in possession of the money, the couriers deposited the bulk cash in increments of $22,000 to $45,000 into the funnel bank accounts at Wells Fargo Bank and other U.S. banks controlled by the money laundering organization. The funds were then wire transferred from the funnel accounts to a series of Mexico based shell companies operated by the money laundering organization. Figueroa himself made multiple wire transfers from the funnel accounts knowing that the funds were from unlawful activity. Once in Mexico, the funds were transferred to representatives of the Sinaloa Cartel.
(snip)