Friday, August 6th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

By BNO News

http://wireupdate.com/local/colombian-woman-extradited-to-the-u-s-for-her-involvement-in-a-money-laundering-conspiracy/

NEW YORK CITY (BNO NEWS) – A Colombian woman was extradited on late Thursday into the United States in order to face charges related to her role in a money laundering conspiracy that targeted millions of dollars from drug proceeds, U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara said on Friday.

Margarita Leonor Pabon Castro, 36, arrived in New York on Thursday. She was a legal advisor for D.M.G. Group (DMG), a Colombian marketing giant. The company was founded by David Eduardo Helmut Murcia Guzmán in 2003.

DMG was a vehicle for a multi-level marketing scheme, through which customers could buy pre-paid debit cards. The cards allowed Latin Americans to buy electronics and other items at retail stores operated by DMG. At its highest point, the Colombian enterprise had approximately 400,000 customers.

Murcia Guzman, 28, is a close friend of Pabon Castro. She assisted in accounting matters for DMG and in hiding data from Colombia's Superintendencia de Sociedades, an agency responsible for the regulations of corporations.

Both criminal associates also established hundreds of subsidiary and affiliated companies in Colombia, Panama, and the United States. Pabon Castro and six others allegedly laundered narcotics proceeds through DMG and its affiliated companies.

The defendants used the Colombian Black Market Peso Exchange, an informal value transfer system commonly used to launder illicit dollars in the U.S. The seven associates utilized the black market pesos in exchange for pesos earned due to legitimate purchases. They usually tricked a third individual into setting up an U.S. bank account to launder the drug proceeds. In one occasion in March 2008, the criminals laundered $2.2 million in Colombian pesos into nearly $2.2 million through a U.S. bank account.

The defendants also coordinated the pick-up and transportation of millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds in Mexico. They concealed the criminal earnings by investing them in legitimate real states and limited liability companies.

Pabon Castro, Murcia Guzmán as well as co-conspirators, William Suarez Suarez, Angel Rueda, Luis Fernando Cediel Rozo, Santiago Baranchuck-Rueda and Serrano Reyes were all charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Upon sentencing, the count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Rueda has not been extradited yet.