Press Release
FORT LAUDERDALE YACHT BROKER SENTENCED ON MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES
April 7, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael E. Yasofsky, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), and Al Lamberti, Sheriff, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, announced the sentencing of defendant, Roger E. Demarest, age 67, of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, to 48 months’ imprisonment on money laundering charges. Defendant Demarest was convicted after a jury trial before United States District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas, Fort Lauderdale, Florida of one count of money laundering, in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1956(a)(3).
This conviction was the result of a joint IRS-CID and Broward Sheriff’s Office undercover investigation into money laundering activities. During the investigation, undercover agents approached Demarest, a licensed yacht broker in the State of Florida and the owner and operator of Parrott & Herst Yacht & Ship Sales, Inc., located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The agents purported to be narcotics traffickers seeking to purchase a sailboat with cash drug proceeds and to conceal the true ownership of the vessel and use the vessel for future drug trafficking activities.
According to the evidence presented at trial, to accomplish the transaction, Demarest suggested that the buyers create a dummy Delaware corporation to own the vessel, thus concealing the identities of the purported drug traffickers. Demarest created the dummy corporation with a phony corporate officer. Thereafter, Demarest titled the sailboat in the name of the dummy corporation. Demarest accepted approximately $180,000.00 in cash that was represented by the undercover agents to be the drug proceeds. In addition, Demarest knew and understood that the boat would be used in future drug trafficking activities.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and the Broward Sheriff’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia Shick.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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