Former Honduran Politician Sentenced to 36 Months for Money Laundering
A former Honduran congressman and businessman, Yani Benjamin Rosenthal Hidalgo, has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from drug trafficking offenses. The sentence was handed down on July 26, 2017 by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl.
According to the indictment, Rosenthal and his co-defendants used entities associated with a holding company controlled by the Rosenthal family, Inversiones Continental (Panama), S.A. de C.V., to launder drug proceeds for the Cachiros, a violent Honduran drug organization. Through his conduct, which occurred over a period of at least approximately five years, Rosenthal provided the Cachiros with sources of funding for their criminal enterprise, a means to launder their narcotics proceeds, and public legitimacy, thereby contributing to an environment of impunity that allowed the Cachiros to thrive in Honduras and to import tons of cocaine into the United States.
Rosenthal and his co-defendants helped the Cachiros launder drug money and gain access to the international financial system. Rosenthal enriched himself through this conduct by profiting from business transactions with the Cachiros. In 2012, while Rosenthal acted as a Honduran congressman and campaigned for the Honduran presidency, he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds from one of the leaders of the Cachiros and another major Honduran drug trafficker who led a separate drug trafficking organization, which were styled as purported campaign contributions.
The money laundering conduct involved a trade-based scheme in which the Cachiros used a front company, Ganaderos Agricultores Del Norte S De RL De CV, to purchase cattle with drug proceeds at auctions in Honduras. Rosenthal and others used Empacadora Continental, S.A. de C.V., a cattle- and meat-processing firm affiliated with Inversiones Continental, to purchase the narcotics-derived cattle from Ganaderos. Between 2008 and 2013, while Rosenthal acted as the vice president of Empacadora, he caused Empacadora to buy cattle from Ganaderos, knowing that Ganaderos was financed and supported by drug trafficking proceeds of the Cachiros.
Rosenthal pled guilty on July 26, 2017 before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. The exact criminal charges against Rosenthal were not specified in the press release. The city and state of the crime is New York. Rosenthal accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds from the Cachiros and another major Honduran drug trafficker. Rosenthal was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
The case is part of a larger effort by law enforcement to dismantle the Cachiros and other violent drug organizations operating in Honduras and elsewhere.
Mandatory Facts: Defendant: Yani Benjamin Rosenthal Hidalgo; Exact criminal charges: Money laundering; City and state: New York; Exact date: July 26, 2017; Sentence: 36 months in prison.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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