United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

WATERBURY MAN SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR OPERATING ILLEGAL MONEY REMITTING BUSINESS

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARCIO MANSUR, 53, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Janet C. Hall in Bridgeport to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for his role in a multimillion dollar illegal money remitting scheme.  MANSUR also was ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $5000.  On October 20, 2008, MANSUR pleaded guilty to one count of operating an illegal money remitting business.

A money transmitting business is any person or business that receives money from a customer and then, for a fee paid by the customer, transmits that money to a recipient in a place that the customer designates, usually a foreign country.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from March 2006 to March 2008, MANSUR operated Danbury-based Bem Brasil, a business that, among other things, collected funds for remission to Brazil on behalf of Brazilian immigrants in Connecticut.  MANSUR then paid RM Insurance Services LLC of Danbury, an insurance company that also catered to the Brazilian immigrant community, to wire transfer the funds he had collected at Bem Brasil and other locations.

MANSUR knew that Bem Brasil and RM Insurance were not licensed under Connecticut law to operate a money transmitting business.

In 2006 and 2007, MANSUR had RM Insurance and another unauthorized money remitting business wire more than $18 million.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rahul Kale.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov