Alain Bibliowicz Mitrani, Money Laundering, New York 2024

Alain Bibliowicz Mitrani, a resident of Miami, Florida and a citizen of France and Colombia, was charged today with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, announced the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John J. Durham, along with the Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, New York, Michael Alfonso, and the Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York, Harry T. Chavis, Jr.

Alain Bibliowicz Mitrani is scheduled to make his initial appearance today in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. He will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date.

As alleged, the defendant used a seemingly legitimate technology company as a front for engaging in a multi-million dollar scheme that deliberately flouted federal laws to launder over $300 million, including for cartels and transnational criminal organizations engaged in drug trafficking, such as the Sinaloa Cartel.

“As alleged, the defendant used a seemingly legitimate technology company as a front for engaging in a multi-million dollar scheme that deliberately flouted federal laws to launder over $300 million, including for cartels and transnational criminal organizations engaged in drug trafficking,” stated United States Attorney Durham. “Today’s arrest demonstrates that this Office will arrest and vigorously prosecute those who help facilitate financing for international drug traffickers.”

The indictment alleges that from approximately 2020 to 2024, the defendant was an owner and leader of a company (the “Company”) that laundered drug proceeds through United States financial institutions. The defendant and his co-conspirators sought to have the Company appear as a legitimate technology business. In reality, the Company’s public-facing operations were a cover for an elaborate multi-million-dollar money laundering enterprise based in Florida and Colombia.

Cartels and other transnational criminal organizations that engage in drug trafficking operate vast criminal enterprises that generate significant revenue globally by trafficking illicit narcotics. Because these organizations generate billions of dollars in revenue annually from trafficked narcotics, they must find ways to repatriate these proceeds back to their home countries to fund their ongoing enterprises. In many cases, drug trafficking organizations rely on separate money laundering operations, such as the Company, to repatriate their funds. In exchange, money laundering organizations and their associates, like the defendant, earn a significant commission for taking on the risk of laundering illicit proceeds for these criminal organizations.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/miami-resident-charged-leading-money-laundering-operation-transnational-criminal