International Crime Scholar Pleads Guilty in Money-Laundering Case
A recognized global scholar on drug cartels and funds laundering has pleaded guilty to funds laundering around his involvement in a Venezuelan bribery and corruption scheme.
Bruce Bagley, a professor at the College of Miami, admitted that, in between November 2017 and October 2018, his company’s lender account been given somewhere around $2.five million from the abroad accounts controlled by a sanctioned Columbian businessman.
Bagley was arrested in November 2019 and pleaded not guilty at the time however, he submitted a recognize in March indicating that he prepared to transform his plea.
He is the writer of the guide “Drug Trafficking, Arranged Criminal offense, and Violence in the Americas Today.”
“Bruce Bagley … went from producing the guide on criminal offense — literally producing a guide on drug trafficking and structured criminal offense — to committing crimes,” the United States Legal professional for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, stated in a push launch. “Professor Bagley admitted now to laundering funds for corrupt overseas nationals — the proceeds of bribery and corruption, stolen from the citizens of Venezuela. Bagley now faces the risk of a lengthy tenure in prison.”
According to court documents, Bagley been given regular payments from a corrupt foods firm run by a Columbian businessman, given that identified as Alex Saab. Bagley transferred the resources to lender accounts controlled by a U.S. law enforcement informant, Jorge Luis Hernandez, though retaining a share for himself.
Saab was sanctioned past yr by the U.S. Treasury Section allegedly profiting from a no-bid agreement to import foods to Venezuela. He was indicted in Miami in July for laundering funds connected to a public housing plan in Venezuela.
“I need to have comprehended that the funds associated were proceeds of unlawful exercise,” Bagley stated in a federal court hearing.
Bagley has been on administrative go away at the College of Miami given that past fall.
His sentencing is scheduled for October 1.
