New Jersey couple pleads guilty to operating unlicensed money transmitting businesses.
Nicholas Ortega Munoz, 23, and Isabella Valderrama Ospina, 23, both of Hackensack, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark to operating unlicensed money transmitting businesses.
According to court documents, the couple used a novel scheme to secretly move money from the United States to Colombia using two fake companies: BLK Graphics Group and Technology SD.
The sham companies, BLK and Technology SD, were built to serve as cash pipelines to move tens of millions of dollars to Latin America and avoid law enforcement detection.
Between April 2021 and June 2025, BLK and Technology SD moved over $62 million in proceeds to accounts in Colombia.
The charges of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business each carry a statutory maximum prison sentence of five years and a statutory maximum fine of the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense, or twice the gross amount of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense, whichever is greatest.
Sentencing for Mr. Ortega Munoz is scheduled for June 23, 2026, and sentencing for Ms. Valderrama Ospina is scheduled for June 25, 2026.
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Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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