https://cbs12.com/news/local/former-venezuelan-military-official-sentenced-to-prison-for-money-laundering-bribing-scheme-swindle-fraud-international-fort-lauderdale-financing-food-imports-central-bank-florida-doj-may-24-2024

MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) — A former Venezuelan National Guard officer was sentenced in Florida to one year and one day in prison for his involvement in a money laundering and bribery scheme.

Nepmar Jesus Escalona Enriquez, 47, resided in Fort Lauderdale when he played a role in a scheme aimed at financing purported food imports to Venezuela through deceitful means, including bribery, stated the Department of Justice in a news release.

Escalona and his accomplices orchestrated the scheme by submitting fraudulent applications to the Venezuelan currency regulation authority, known as CADIVI, to mislead entities such as Banesco Bank, the Central Bank of Venezuela, and Venezuelan customs authorities.

These applications, purportedly intended to fund food imports, were instead a guise to unlawfully enrich the conspirators, according to the DOJ.

The fraud ended up in nearly $1.7 million USD from Banesco Bank into an account controlled by Escalona and his co-conspirators. Escalona also confessed to arranging bribes to Venezuelan officials to evade detection of their fraudulent activities. On another occasion, he directed a co-conspirator to wire proceeds of the fraud and funds constituting bribes to four financial institutions in the US, totaling over $420,000.