Eric St-Cyr, Money Laundering, Virginia 2023
MIAMI - In a bold move to conceal and disguise the true identity of $2 million believed to be the proceeds of bank fraud, a Caribbean-based investment advisor and an attorney have been sentenced to serve 14 months in prison each for conspiring to launder monetary instruments.
According to court documents, Eric St-Cyr, 50, a Canadian citizen, and his accomplice, Patrick Poulin, 41, also a Canadian citizen, worked with Joshua Vandyk, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen, to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the property.
St-Cyr, who was the founder and head of an investment firm based in the Cayman Islands, and Poulin, an attorney at a law firm in Turks and Caicos, solicited U.S. citizens to use their services to hide assets from the U.S. government, including the IRS.
The scheme involved creating offshore entities designed to conceal the true identity of the proceeds' owners and using those entities to launder purported criminal proceeds.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ronald A. Cimino stated, 'The sentences imposed by the court today show that those who use offshore accounts and entities for money laundering and tax evasion will be punished.'
Vandyk, who pleaded guilty on June 12, was sentenced on September 5 to serve 30 months in prison.
St-Cyr and Poulin pleaded guilty on June 27 and July 11 respectively, and were sentenced to serve 14 months in prison each.
The investigation, which lasted years, involved extensive undercover activity as well as cooperation from multiple foreign law enforcement agencies.
The undercover IRS agents in this investigation went to Canada, the Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands to develop the evidence.
St-Cyr and Poulin are cooperating with the IRS, and the authorities anticipate that other investigations will develop from the information they have provided.
This case highlights the importance of working with law enforcement partners to penetrate and combat schemes designed to evade taxes and other legal requirements.
Defendant: Eric St-Cyr, Patrick Poulin
Criminal Charges: Conspiring to launder monetary instruments
City and State: Miami, Florida
Date: June 27 (St-Cyr), July 11 (Poulin)
Sentence: 14 months in prison
Dollar Amount: $2 million
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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