NEW YORK – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) New York introduced Friday {that a} former Venezuelan official and member the company’s Most Wanted List has been designated as a goal of the U.S. Division of State’s (DOS) Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program in an effort to finish corruption and criminality tied to the Maduro regime in Venezuela. This investigation was carried out by the HSI New York and HSI Miami El Dorado Monetary Crimes Process Forces.
“HSI New York’s El Dorado Process Power is uniquely certified to research advanced, worldwide cash laundering and different severe monetary crimes. Working with our legislation enforcement companions across the nation and all over the world, we are going to proceed to safeguard our monetary methods from worldwide corruption that enriches the coffers of dictators and their cronies. This designation is a transparent message – corruption stops at our border,” mentioned Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Tony H. Pham.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Asset Management (OFAC) designated Lopez as a Specifically Designated Narcotics Trafficker (SDNT) “for offering materials help, monetary help, or items or providers in help of…worldwide narcotics trafficking actions.” Particularly, OFAC recognized Lopez as a “key frontman” for El Aissami, dealing with enterprise preparations and monetary issues that generated important income on account of El Aissami’s criminality.
Based mostly on investigations by HSI New York and HSI Miami, Lopez was indicted in March 2019 and March 2020 within the Southern District of New York for violations of the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act, the Kingpin Act, and different sanctions imposed by OFAC.
The Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program was established by Congress in 2013 as a device to help the U.S. authorities to determine and convey to justice members of great transnational felony organizations. This system provides rewards for data that results in the arrest and/or conviction of members of transnational felony organizations concerned in felony exercise that threaten nationwide safety, comparable to human trafficking, cash laundering, weapons trafficking, and different kinds of contraband.
With over 200 members from greater than 30 native, state, federal and worldwide legislation enforcement companies, HSI New York’s El Dorado Process Power is the premier monetary crimes investigative process power on the planet. They’re accountable for detecting, disrupting and dismantling transnational felony monetary networks by stopping their entry to U.S. monetary methods and stemming the movement of their illicit funds by way of indictments, arrests, and seizures. Since its inception in 1992, process power investigators have seized almost $2 billion in illicit proceeds and revamped 3000 felony arrests for cash laundering and different severe monetary crimes.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Division of Homeland Safety and a significant U.S. asset in combating felony organizations illegally exploiting America’s journey, commerce, monetary and immigration methods. Throughout the nation and all over the world, HSI makes use of its distinctive and expansive authorities to research all kinds of cross-border crime, together with cash laundering, monetary fraud and scams, narcotics trafficking, youngster exploitation, transnational gangs, identification & profit fraud, mental property theft & commerce fraud, human smuggling and trafficking, illicit expertise switch, weapons trafficking, terrorism and nationwide safety threats, human rights violations & struggle crimes, and cybercrime.
With greater than 8,500 particular brokers and intelligence analysts assigned to greater than 200 cities all through the U.S. and greater than 80 workplaces in 53 nations across the globe, HSI is a key companion of native, state, federal and overseas legislation enforcement organizations worldwide.