Apr.07, 2010
A US judge set on Tuesday a bail amounting to USD 650,000 for two Venezuelan accused of scheming in money laundering allegedly coming from drug traffic through the Venezuelan parallel exchange market.
Antoine Jean Melhem, 52, and Douglas Douglas Enrique Sánchez Soto, 51, were set a USD 500,000 bail and a USD 150,000 bail, respectively, as per the ruling issued by Judge Stephen Brown during a hearing held in a Miami court.
The hearing for another defendant, Edgar Hadad Azraca, 49, was adjourned at the request of his defense lawyer to next April 15, Efe reported.
Brown specified that the bails should be paid with funds which do not come from illegal activities and the passports of Melhem and Sánchez were to be seized to prevent them from fleeing the country.
The three defendants are members of a group of 16 people accused last March by the Federal Prosecutor Office in Southern Florida District of presumably plotting money laundering of USD 7 million in the Venezuelan parallel exchange market.