White Collar Defense, Internal Investigations, & Regulatory Compliance

Money Laundering

Defense in federal money laundering prosecutions, from BSA investigations through major international cases.

Overview

Federal money laundering charges carry severe statutory penalties, allow forfeiture of all traceable proceeds, and are routinely added to fraud and narcotics indictments to multiply both potential sentence and asset seizure. South Florida is one of the most active money laundering enforcement districts in the country.

Our attorneys handle money laundering matters at the highest levels of complexity. Adam Fels currently represents an Argentine national in an unlicensed money remittance prosecution framed by the government as one of the largest in U.S. history, over $350 million, involving extradition proceedings from Argentina. Alejandro Soto simultaneously represents another Argentine national in a parallel matter of comparable scale. Both cases require mastery of the knowledge and intent requirements that the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Our Approach

Money laundering defense requires technical legal command (the charged transactions must be analyzed against the specific elements of each statutory subsection) and strategic thinking about the financial evidence. We work with forensic accountants to challenge the government's characterization of which funds were 'proceeds of specified unlawful activity' and whether the defendant had the requisite knowledge.

Representative Experience

White Collar & Government Investigations

Confidential DOJ defense – Gunvor / PetroEcuador bribery scheme
Represented a Canadian national and former Gunvor employee charged in the Eastern District of New York with conspiring to launder proceeds of an approximately $22 million bribery scheme involving Ecuador's state oil company, PetroEcuador. Gunvor S.A., the Swiss energy trading company, separately pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and paid a $374.56 million criminal fine as part of a $474.4 million global resolution, admitting it paid intermediaries more than $97 million between 2012 and 2020 to bribe PetroEcuador officials to obtain and retain oil-trading business. Covered by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and international press.
Global bank AML enforcement action
Represented a global financial institution in a U.S. regulatory enforcement action concerning its anti-money laundering compliance program.
Unlicensed money-remittance prosecution
Represents a client charged in the Southern District of Florida with money laundering arising from allegations of unlicensed money remitting, in a case involving over $350 million and among the largest of its kind ever brought by the federal government. The client is in Argentina awaiting extradition proceedings.
USAO and OFAC sanctions investigation
Represents a client under investigation by both the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Office of Foreign Assets Control for alleged violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and money laundering, with cross-border exposure to Russia.

Latin America & Cross-Border

Confidential DOJ defense – Gunvor / PetroEcuador bribery scheme
Represented a Canadian national and former Gunvor employee charged in the Eastern District of New York with conspiring to launder proceeds of a roughly $22 million bribery scheme involving Ecuador's state oil company, PetroEcuador. Gunvor S.A., the Swiss energy trading company, separately pleaded guilty in March 2024 to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and paid a $374.56 million criminal fine as part of a $474.4 million global resolution, admitting it paid intermediaries more than $97 million between 2012 and 2020 to bribe PetroEcuador officials to obtain and retain oil-trading business. Covered by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and international press.

Frequently Asked Questions

What must the government prove to convict someone of federal money laundering?

Under 18 U.S.C. § 1956, the government must prove: (1) a financial transaction involving proceeds of a specified unlawful activity; (2) knowledge that the property represented proceeds of some form of unlawful activity; and (3) intent to promote the underlying activity, conceal its source, or evade reporting requirements. Proving the defendant knew the funds were criminal proceeds is often the most contested issue.

What is unlicensed money remitting and why does it lead to money laundering charges?

Operating a money transmission business without state licensing and FinCEN registration is a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. § 1960. The DOJ frequently adds money laundering charges on the theory that the unlicensed activity generates criminal proceeds that are then laundered through subsequent transactions, a charge pattern the firm has litigated in matters of this kind.

Our company processes payments for third-party merchants. What money laundering exposure do we have if a merchant turns out to have been running a fraud?

Payment processors and acquiring banks face significant federal money laundering exposure in third-party merchant fraud scenarios. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1), processing payments that are proceeds of a specified unlawful activity, including mail and wire fraud, with knowledge of their illicit origin can constitute money laundering. The 'knowledge' element is contested but can be proven circumstantially: red flags that the processor ignored, internal compliance alerts that were overridden, or patterns of chargebacks and consumer complaints can support a finding that the processor 'knew or consciously disregarded' the nature of the transactions. The critical question is whether the processor had enough information that a jury could find it willfully blinded itself to the obvious, not whether the processor knew the merchant was fraudulent. Strong AML controls, transaction monitoring, and documented merchant due diligence are both compliance requirements and defenses.

Team

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Adam S. Fels

Founding Partner

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Alejandro O. Soto

Founding Partner

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Daniel Fridman

Founding Partner

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