.JPG)
Cartier Jewelry Family Heir Charged with Money Laundering for Colombian Cartel
https://protos.com/cartier-family-member-arrested-for-laundering-drug-money-with-tether-1/
Excerpt:
Maximilian de Hoop Cartier, a descendant of Louis Cartier, was arrested in Miami on money laundering charges, allegedly collaborating with a Colombian drug cartel.
Together with 5 Colombian nationals, Cartier attempted to import 100 kg of cocaine and launder hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly through over-the-counter (OTC) transactions with crypto stablecoin Tether. Before being arrested, they successfully laundered $14.5 million USDT. While Cartier is detained in Miami, his associates are in Colombian prisons.
Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, Leonardo de Jesus Zuluage Duque, Erica Milena Lopez Ortiz, and Felipe Estrada Echeverry were members of a network that laundered millions of dollars worth of drug trafficking proceeds using cryptocurrency and the U.S. financial system.
Cartier is additionally alleged to have committed a series of financial offenses while working with this money laundering network that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unlawful transactions. Cartier, who purports to be a direct descendant of the Cartier family known for luxury jewelry, was arrested on February 22, 2024, in Miami, Florida.
“Today’s announcement serves as a reminder that criminals do not fit a certain mold. While Maximilien de Hoop Cartier represents himself as a member of a family associated with wealth and luxury, he stands accused of executing a bank fraud scheme where hundreds of millions in criminal funds were laundered. Both here and in Colombia, he and his co-conspirators allegedly laundered drug-trafficking proceeds to the tune of over $14 million.
To carry out this plan, Cartier controlled shell companies, misrepresenting them to financial institutions as software and technology companies. He used these accounts as unlicensed money brokers, making transactions in USDT, dollars, pesos, and other currencies, laundering hundreds of millions from criminal activity.
Between or about May 2023 and November 2023, those charged used this network to launder a total of approximately $14.5 million Tether derived directly from the proceeds of drug trafficking.