MIAMI – In a shocking revelation, a five-count indictment has been unsealed, charging three individuals, including a Georgia businessman, a former Honduran government official, and a former Florida resident, for their alleged involvement in an international scheme to pay and conceal bribes to Honduran government officials to secure contracts to provide uniforms and other goods to the Honduran National Police.
According to court documents, Carl Alan Zaglin, 68, owner of a Georgia-based manufacturer of law enforcement uniforms and accessories, made his initial appearance in federal court on Wednesday. Francisco Roberto Cosenza Centeno, 65, the former Executive Director of the Comité Técnico del Fideicomiso para la Administración del Fondo de Protección y Seguridad Poblacional (TASA), a Honduran governmental entity that procured goods for the Honduran National Police, and Aldo Nestor Marchena, 50, a resident of Boca Raton, Florida, are the other two defendants.
Between March 2015 and November 2019, Zaglin, Marchena, and others allegedly agreed to bribe Honduran government officials, including Cosenza, to secure contracts with TASA worth over $10 million. In exchange for the bribes, Cosenza and other Honduran government officials allegedly assisted Zaglin, Marchena, and others in obtaining contracts for the sale of uniforms and other goods for the Honduran National Police and securing payment on the contracts.
Zaglin, Marchena, and their co-conspirators allegedly used the proceeds from the corrupt Honduran government contracts to make bribe payments to Honduran government officials. To promote the scheme and conceal the bribe payments, Zaglin, Marchena, Cosenza, and others allegedly laundered proceeds of the corrupt scheme through bank accounts and front companies in the United States and Belize.
The defendants are all charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cosenza and Marchena are also each charged with one count of money laundering and one count of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property. Zaglin and Marchena are also both charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Zaglin is also charged with one count of violating the FCPA.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the money laundering offenses, 10 years in prison on the count of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property, and five years in prison on each of the FCPA-related offenses.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Criminal Division, and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Miami Office made the announcement. HSI’s Miami Office is investigating the case, with assistance from HSI’s Atlanta Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli S. Rubin for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Peter L. Cooch and Anthony Scarpelli of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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