ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Univision Auto, LLC, trading as Auto Trademark, a used-car dealership located in Manassas, Va., pleaded guilty today to structuring more than $1.78 million.

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for ICE, Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C., and Tom Carr, Executive Director of the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Initiative, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge T. S. Ellis III. 

            Univision Auto was indicted on Dec. 16, 2010, by a federal grand jury on charges of money structuring.  In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Univision Auto admitted to making structured cash deposits totaling approximately $1,783,025 between Aug. 2, 2009, and July 23, 2010. Financial institutions that receive a deposit or withdrawal in excess of $10,000 from a customer are required to report the transaction and the contact information of the customer to the Internal Revenue Service through a Currency Transaction Report (CTR). Univision Auto admitted that it engaged in structuring cash deposits to avoid triggering the filing of a CTR by a financial institution.

            Pursuant to the plea agreement, Univision Auto agreed to immediately forfeit $771,827.  In addition, to repay the government for the release of funds that occurred prior to entering the plea agreement, the defendant agreed to forfeit an additional $94,600, plus 5 percent interest per year, within two years. Today, the court immediately proceeded to sentencing, accepting a total forfeiture judgment of $866, 427 and electing to not add a punitive fine.

            This case was investigated by ICE HSI’s SAC Washington field office, which leads the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Northern Virginia Drug and Money Laundering Initiative with assistance from the HIDTA Northern Virginia Suspicious Activity Review Team.  Special Assistant United States Attorney Manasi Venkatesh is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

            A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

 

 

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