Tag: money laundering

Top Obama DEA Official Charged With Laundering Money For Mexican Drug Cartel

A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official appointed as deputy chief of the Office of Financial Operations during the Obama administration – and who still holds a security clearance – was indicted on Friday on charges of agreeing to launder $12 million for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) – which was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February of this year.

Paul Campo, who oversaw the FBI’s money laundering operations and resigned in January 2016 ahead of Trump’s inauguration, laundered around $750,000 for the cartel by converting cash into cryptocurrency, and agreed to launder far more – totaling over $12 million, according to the indictment. 

Campo’s hoome was raided by federal agents on Thursday.

Campo also provided a payment for around 220 kilos of cocaine on the understanding that the drugs had been imported into the USA, the indictment further states. 

He was able to do this after spending 25 years at the DEA, rising to a high-level position which he used to sell himself to CJNG as someone who could; 

  • give inside information on DEA operations
  • help them move drug money
  • help them avoid detection
  • and even advise on narcotics logistics

In late 2024, Campo, along with a friend Robert Sensi, began conspiring with an undercover government source they believed was with the cartel. They allegedly discussed using drones packed with C-4 explosives for CJNG operation. When the undercover agent asked what they could do with the drones, Campo allegedly said “We put explosives and we just send it over there,” adding that six kilos of C-4 would be enough to blow up “the whole fucking…” [sentence trails off]

Campo also allegedly told the undercover source that, because of his past work inside DEA’s intelligence and financial units, he still had “connections” within the agency and could advise CJNG on how to evade detection. According to the indictment, he portrayed himself as someone who understood DEA investigative patterns, internal targeting systems, and the vulnerabilities of U.S. financial controls.

Both Campo and Sensi allegedly assured the undercover officer that they could convert cartel cash into cryptocurrency in a way that would appear legitimate, billing themselves as specialists capable of “getting money back” for clients whose assets had been seized by law enforcement.

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“The Seditious Six” Face New Legal Challenges — Massive MONEY LAUNDERING Allegations Emerge

Recently, six lawmakers caused an uproar and prepared a video that implied that soldiers should not follow orders. They carefully put a spin on the Uniform Code of Military Justice in such a way as to imply Sedition.

Each line in the video is alternately delivered by Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Jason Crow of Colorado.

These six have now acquired the moniker of “Seditious Six”.

It now appears that the six lawmakers have been found to have been heavily involved in money laundering. Investigative Reporter/Citizen Journalist, Bob Cushman, has just released an FEC data analysis that strongly suggests that Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Chrissy Houlahan, and Maggie Goodlander have been recipients of illegally laundered campaign funds.

In the initial investigation, Cushman cites 22 Smurf examples that have “allegedly” contributed almost three million dollars in more than 95,000 separate donations to Democratic coffers.

All six members of the Seditious Six have received funds from one or more of these “smurfs”.

It needs to be stated that current thinking about the massive money laundering involving ActBlue is that the identities of the smurfs have been hijacked and that the actual persons have no awareness of the illegal use of their identities.

Live interviews by James O’Keefe, Charlie LeDuff, and Bob Cushman have shown the lack of awareness of these victims of identity theft.

In a very informative news discussion between Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Charlie LeDuff in a “No BS Newshour Episode #395” and campaign strategist Jason Roe (Fraudette Smurf – YouTube) , it was stated that ActBlue has allegedly received over 16 billion dollars since 2004.

It was also revealed that several senior members of ActBlue have abruptly resigned since allegations of fraud have come forward and several federal investigations have begun in 2025.

Jason Roe stated that people working within political campaigns for many years have been aware of the money laundering that was enabled by ActBlue and that Charlie LeDuff had, within the first few minutes of Episode 395, done a far better job of explaining how ActBlue had laundered money than any mainstream media ever had!

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Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Surrenders to Authorities After Allegedly Laundering $5 Million in FEMA Funds — Allegedly Bought 3.14-Carat Yellow Diamond Ring

A sitting Democratic member of Congress from Broward County, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, surrendered to federal authorities Tuesday in Miami amid explosive allegations that she orchestrated a scheme to steal and launder $5 million in FEMA COVID-19 disaster relief funds, and used a portion to bankroll her 2021 congressional campaign and purchase a luxury yellow diamond ring.

The 46-year-old Congresswoman appeared in Miami federal court in handcuffs following a 15-count federal indictment issued last week. She now faces charges including conspiracy, theft of government funds, money laundering, making and receiving straw-donor contributions, and filing false statements on her federal tax return.

According to the Department of Justice, prosecutors allege that Cherfilus-McCormick and her 51-year-old brother, Edwin Cherfilus, siphoned off $5,057,850 FEMA funds.

“The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source. Prosecutors allege that a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants.

The indictment further alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.

The indictment also charges Cherfilus-McCormick and her 2021 tax preparer David K. Spencer, 41, of Davie, with conspiring to file a false federal tax return. According to the indictment, they falsely claimed political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions in order to reduce her tax obligations.”

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$100 Million Corruption Scandal Rocks Ukraine; Zelensky Associate Flees Country Before Police Raids

In yet another sign of the rampant corruption in Ukraine, Ukrainian security forces raided the apartment of Timur Mindich, a businessman associated with President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, the oligarch had already left the country just hours before, likely after being tipped off by an insider.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) says that $100 million is believed to have been siphoned off due to a “money laundering operation,” and other associates were involved.

The 15-month investigation featured 1,000 hours of wiretapping and resulted in 70 raids, according to NABU.

There are numerous reports speculating that Mindich, who has close connections to Israel and just celebrated his birthday there, fled to Israel, but so far, most media reports do not disclose his destination country.

In a statement, NABU indicated that several individuals had formed a criminal gang and built “a large-scale corruption scheme to influence strategic enterprises in the public sector, in particular Energoatom.”

The scheme involved forcing Energoatom’s counterparties to pay kickbacks of approximately 10 to 15 percent of contract values in order to avoid having payments for services or goods blocked, or possibly losing their status as suppliers, the bureau reported.

NABU indicated that the raids and arrests were a part of an operation code-named “Midas,” with the initial investigations already launched in 2024.

“Particular attention was paid to cryptocurrencies. Most operations, including cash withdrawals, took place outside Ukraine. For example, during foreign delegations of representatives of state bodies and the management of state-owned energy sector enterprises,” NABU notes.

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Smartmatic Indicted For Money Laundering, Bribery Of Philippine Official

Smartmatic — the company involved in a defamation lawsuit against Fox News over the latter’s reporting on the 2020 election — was indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami on Thursday for allegedly bribing a Philippine official in relation to the 2016 Philippine national elections.

The indictment added the parent company of Smartmatic, SGO Corporation Ltd., as a defendant in the case already underway against three Smartmatic executives. The indictment charges that between 2015 and 2018, Smartmatic executives Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, and others “caused at least $1 million in bribes to be paid” to the former chairman of COMELEC, according to the Department of Justice.

COMELEC stands for the Commission on Elections of the Republic of the Philippines. According to the indictment, COMELEC is an “independent agency mandated to enforce and administer election laws in the Philippines.”

According to the indictment, COMELEC opened the bidding process in 2014 for the lease of 23,000 election machines for the upcoming 2016 election. Smartmatic was awarded a contract in 2015. In 2015, COMELEC awarded a second contract to Smartmatic for the leasing of 70,977 voting machines and services for the 2016 election. Smartmatic was later awarded a third contract.

The indictment alleges that Smartmatic, along with its executives, offered to pay bribes to the COMELEC chairman in order to obtain the contracts, as well as to obtain the “release of favorable value added tax payments.”

In order to pay for the alleged bribes, the indicted co-conspirators allegedly over-invoiced the cost of each voting machine that was used in the 2016 Philippine elections. According to the Department of Justice, “they used coded language, created fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements, and routed transactions through bank accounts in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., including within the Southern District of Florida.”

The indictment charges Smartmatic, along with Piñate and Vasquez, with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments.

Smartmatic denied the allegations in a statement to The Federalist.

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First-cousin marriage linked to terrorist financing, money laundering and people trafficking, experts warn

The storm over first-cousin marriage deepened last night after experts linked it to terrorist financing, money laundering and people trafficking.

Tories called for the marriages to be banned after The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that NHS guidance promotes their ‘benefits’ despite an associated increase in birth defects.

The marriages are also connected to unregulated, untraceable ‘hawala’ financing – a way of transferring money worldwide that depends on family ties and doesn’t leave a paper trace.

To make a transfer using hawala, someone deposits cash in one country with a password. 

The same amount can be withdrawn abroad using the password via a trusted middleman in both countries. It does not require physical movement of cash.

The National Crime Agency says risks of money laundering and terror financing under this system are high.

It says Hezbollah has received billions through the system and Isis depends on it.

British funds have reached terrorist cells in Somalia and Syria, adds the crime agency.

Government investigators believe hawala is being used to launder at least £2billion every year in the UK. 

Academic Dr Patrick Nash says because cousin marriages are typically made with foreign relatives, they are more likely to import hawala to the UK, as well as needing to transfer money abroad to family.

He says: ‘Labour must act swiftly to ban cousin marriage and hawala or be complicit in terrorist atrocities.’

Since being cut off from financial markets by the US, Iran has become adept at using hawala to transfer British funds to prop up terrorist regimes in the Middle East.

The National Crime Agency has also found that hundreds of millions of pounds a year is being channelled through hawala to smuggle migrants and potential terrorists into Britain.

Documents have been unearthed showing Government ministers, tax authorities and law enforcement officials promoting the hawala network.

In one case they show how families can use hawala to pay people-smugglers to help to cross the Channel.

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FBI Takes Down Money Laundering Network Tied To Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro – Two Men Indicted as DOJ Joins Pressure on Socialist Regime

FBI is gunning for Maduro, too.

Besides the major military deployment of assets to the Caribbean, with multiple reports warning of possible ground operations in Venezuela, other areas of the US government are also focused in curtailing the reign of terror of Nicolas Maduro, ‘the butcher of Caracas’.

The Treasury and the Department of Justice are also working against the international arms of the criminal cartels.

Fox News reported:

“The FBI says two men have been indicted in connection with an alleged money-laundering scheme tied to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s children.

The indictments come after a years-long investigation that dates back to 2019 when the FBI’s Miami Field Office launched the probe based on indications that Arick Komarczyk opened U.S. bank accounts for Maduro’s children and their U.S.-based associates. Suspicious Activity Reports allegedly showed that Komarczyk received wire transfers from individuals and businesses in Venezuela, according to the FBI.”

Komarczyk and his associate, Irazmar Carbajal, allegedly moved $100,000 of suspected sanctioned money belonging to members of Venezuela’s regime.

The men are said to have moved about $25,000 into the U.S.

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Fugitive Vaccine Researcher Behind Infamous ‘No Autism Link’ Study ARRESTED for Stealing $1 Million from CDC

Breitbart News has reported that Poul Thorsen, the Danish researcher whose work has been used for two decades to dismiss any link between vaccines and autism, has finally been arrested in Germany after more than a decade as a fugitive.

Thorsen, 64, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta in 2011 on 22 counts of wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that from 2004 to 2010, he stole more than $1 million in CDC research funds—money intended to study autism, infant disabilities, genetic disorders, and fetal alcohol syndrome. According to the indictment, Thorsen funneled funds into his own accounts using fraudulent invoices on CDC letterhead.

He has been on the HHS “Most Wanted” list for over a decade. Acting on an INTERPOL red notice, German authorities finally took him into custody in June. The Department of Justice is now working with Germany to extradite him for trial in the United States.

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Fentanyl Financiers: Treasury Links Mexican Banks and Chinese Networks to Cartel Money Laundering

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is stepping up its efforts to identify the ways that drug cartels move their funds. Most recently, Treasury officials identified the presence of Chinese money laundering networks that are working with Mexican drug cartels and other criminal entities to move large sums of cash.

In a series of notices from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, authorities warned financial institutions about the methods that criminal organizations are using to launder money. According to FinCEN, investigators reviewed 137,153 Bank Secrecy Act reports from 2020 to 2024, identifying $312 billion in suspicious transactions tied to Chinese money laundering networks.

Of significant concern to FinCEN is the apparent ties between Mexican drug cartels and Chinese money laundering groups. The report comes just weeks after FinCEN and the U.S. Treasury sanctioned two Mexican banks and one brokerage firm that they alleged had been laundering money for various drug cartels and had also been helping funnel money into China to pay for fentanyl precursors, Breitbart Texas reported at the time.

The ties between drug cartels and Chinese groups are fueled in part by currency laws in both Mexico and China, which limit the amount of U.S. dollars that can be deposited and moved in Mexico, as well as China’s control of international currency within its country. Treasury officials claim that money laundering groups from China buy U.S. dollars from drug cartels and then sell them further ahead to Chinese individuals or businesses who are trying to evade China’s cash control laws.

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Treasury Says Chinese Money Launderers ‘Vital’ To Cartel Fentanyl Trafficking

The Treasury Department revealed in an Aug. 28 advisory the scope of Chinese money laundering networks’ role in the fentanyl crisis and the harm they have caused the United States.

Banks are required by law to report suspicious activity indicative of money laundering. Reports between January 2020 and December 2024 show approximately $312 billion linked to suspected Chinese money laundering activity, according to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

These money laundering networks, run by Chinese nationals, are preferred by major cartels, including the Mexico-based Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels, because of their speed, effectiveness, and willingness to absorb financial losses or assume risks on behalf of the cartels, according to the FinCEN report.

The cartels, many of which have been designated as terrorist organizations, control “nearly all illegal traffic across the southwest border,” to which the launderers contribute in a “vital” way, according to the report.

“Money laundering networks linked to individual passport holders from the People’s Republic of China enable cartels to poison Americans with fentanyl, conduct human trafficking, and wreak havoc among communities across our great nation,” John Hurley, the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

Communist China is already considered a key contributor to the fentanyl crisis because the majority of chemicals used to assemble illicit fentanyl are known to originate in Chinese chemical companies.

According to FinCEN, the primary goal of these networks is to acquire large quantities of U.S. dollars and other currencies. FinCEN released a trend report on Chinese money laundering networks earlier in August that outlines ties to other crimes unrelated to fentanyl trafficking, such as health care fraud and illicit gambling activity.

Both Mexico and China have laws that restrict citizens from depositing large amounts of U.S. currency. As a result, cartels and Chinese citizens seeking to circumvent the Chinese regime’s currency reporting requirements have turned to laundering networks, according to the report.

“Chinese money laundering networks are global and pervasive, and they must be dismantled,” FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki said.

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