Today, a Bronx, New York man admitted his role in a large international money laundering conspiracy and using a stolen identity in furtherance of the scheme, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig announced.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Honig, Orlando Delgado, 31, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit money laundering and identity fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From August 2018 through December 2019, Delgado laundered over $6.5 million in cash drug proceeds on behalf of a large-scale money laundering organization with close ties to drug trafficking organizations in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere.
Delgado accepted large amounts of cash drug proceeds and laundered it by purchasing over 390 cashier's checks at local bank branches in New Jersey, New York, and Florida.
The checks were made payable to individuals and companies specified by the leaders of the money-laundering organization.
Delgado tried to hide the source of the illegal cash and avoid scrutiny by law enforcement and banks by converting the drug proceeds to cashier's checks.
In August 2019, Delgado obtained a fraudulent identification card in someone else's name and used it to open multiple bank accounts. He then used it to purchase over $1.5 million in cashier's checks with cash drug proceeds.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.