Former Venezuelan Military Official Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering and Bribery Scheme

A former Venezuelan National Guard major pleaded guilty today to a money laundering scheme involving bribes to foreign officials and defrauding foreign financial institutions.    

According to court documents, Nepmar Jesus Escalona Enriquez, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and formerly of Venezuela, participated in an illegal scheme, facilitated by bribery and false pretenses, that involved knowingly submitting fraudulent applications to the Venezuelan currency regulation authority, also known as CADIVI, to deceive Banesco Bank, the Central Bank of Venezuela, and the Venezuelan customs authorities into releasing U.S. dollars to Escalona and his co-conspirators outside of Venezuela. The fraudulent applications were submitted to purportedly finance food imports into Venezuela but in reality, were an artifice to enrich the conspirators. This conduct resulted in the transfer of nearly $1.7 million in U.S. dollars from Banesco Bank into an account controlled by the conspirators.

Escalona further admitted that in at least one instance, the co-conspirators arranged for a series of bribes to be paid to officials in Venezuela to prevent the detection of their fraudulent scheme. Escalona also admitted in another instance to instructing a co-conspirator to wire transfer proceeds of the fraud, as well as funds constituting bribes, to four financial institutions in the United States. The five illicit wire transfers totaled approximately $420,847.

Escalona pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 23 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Miami Field Division made the announcement.

The DEA’s Miami Field Division is investigating the case. 

Trial Attorney Emily Cohen and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Goldbarg for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.