https://hoodline.com/2024/08/colombian-businessman-sentenced-in-boston-to-50-months-for-role-in-250-million-money-laundering-scheme/

A Colombian businessman was hit with a 50-month prison term by a federal court in Boston for his hand in a money laundering scheme, officials said. Jose Abril-Sequera, aged 59, received the sentence after entering a guilty plea to charges that included participation in a conspiracy to launder money and conducting specific laundering transactions.

The investigation that eventually snared Abril-Sequera began in 2016 and stretched until 2022, unraveling a complex network based in Barranquilla, Colombia. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, an undercover investigator managed to infiltrate this organization, using a crafted persona as a globe-trotting money launderer capable of quickly moving and cleansing cash through U.S. accounts before funneling it back to Colombia using a technique known as the Black Market Peso Exchange.

In his role as a business owner in Colombia, Abril-Sequera exploited his legitimate bank accounts to receive more than $250 million rooted in drug trafficking. He attempted to cloak the illegal nature of these transactions with fabricated invoices, a tactic designed to subvert anti-money laundering checks. "Abril-Sequera knew that the money involved was the proceeds of drug trafficking and freely discussed working with individuals dealing in hundreds of kilograms worth of drugs and the logistics of laundering the proceeds," as noted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This case was part of a broader effort by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which aims to systematically identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua R. Levy highlighted the role of this prosecutor-led initiative, which employs a coordinated, multi-agency approach to combat such crimes.