Southern District of Florida | United States seeks to forfeit more than $72 million involved in bribery and money scheme
MIAMI – On Sept. 29, the United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to forfeit more than $72 million involved in a bribery and money laundering scheme centered around Ecuador’s public police pension fund (ISSPOL).
As alleged in the complaint, from 2014 through 2020, more than $2.6 million in bribes were paid to ISSPOL officials (directly or through family members) to obtain and invest ISSPOL funds for the benefit of Jorge Cherrez Miño (Cherrez), his companies, and co-conspirators.
Under an agreement between ISSPOL and Cherrez—reviewed by ISSPOL officials, including at least one to whom a bribe was paid—ISSPOL entrusted Cherrez with approximately $327 million worth of their local Ecuadorian bonds to invest in the global market and to provide ISSPOL with the return on that investment. Cherrez allegedly obtained approximately $65 million in profits from one aspect of the scheme.
Payments from the ISSPOL investment business were obtained in an account in the United States, Florida-based companies and bank accounts were used to pay the bribes and acts in furtherance of the bribery scheme occurred in the Southern District of Florida. Further, to conceal and promote the bribery scheme, corrupt proceeds were allegedly laundered through Florida-based companies and bank accounts, including numerous U.S. investment fund companies incorporated in Florida with Cherrez as an officer or director.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Washington, D.C. Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annika M. Miranda and Jorge R. Delgado are handling the civil forfeiture case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs has provided significant assistance on this matter.
IRS-CI and HSI, jointly under the auspices of the Global Illicit Financial Team, investigated the related criminal cases. Trial Attorneys Katherine Raut and Alexander Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the related criminal cases, United States v. Jorge Cherrez Miño, et al., Case No. 21-CR-20528-KMW (S.D. Fla.), and United States v. Luis Alvarez Villamar, Case No. 21-CR-20308-KMW (S.D. Fla.).
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-cv-23730.
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