Florida Man Convicted of Leading $300 Million Money Laundering Operation for Transnational Criminal Organizations

Alain Bibliowicz Mitrani, a resident of Miami, Florida and a citizen of France and Colombia, was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn on all five counts of a superseding  indictment charging him with money laundering conspiracy, bank fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business related to his laundering of drug proceeds through financial institutions in the United States. The verdict was returned after a two-week trial before United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon.  When sentenced, the defendant faces up to 70 years’ imprisonment.  The defendant was the leader of a scheme to launder more than $300 million, including for persons affiliated with cartels and other transnational criminal organizations engaged in drug trafficking, including the Sinaloa Cartel.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), and Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI), announced the verdict.

“With today’s verdict, the defendant’s prolific money laundering of drug proceeds is all washed up,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “The defendant and his co-conspirators converted illicit proceeds in the form of cryptocurrency from drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico into dirty cash using a series of bank accounts and complex financial transactions, here and abroad.  Then he sent this dirty money back to the drug traffickers, fueling their criminal enterprises while enriching himself with hefty fees he charged for his laundering.  But thanks to the excellent work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, the defendant’s operation has been shut down, and the only laundering he will be handling in the future will be in a federal prison laundromat.”

Mr. Nocella thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, for their assistance.

“The defendant’s $300 million money laundering empire fueled untold violence and chaos on behalf of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. Our message to money launderers is clear: if you think you can bankroll drug cartels and criminal enterprises from the shadows, we will find you, expose you, and shut you down,” stated HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Patel.  “We’re working relentlessly every day with our partners to trace illicit funds and dismantle transnational criminal networks.”

“Bibliowicz Mitrani is complicit in moving more than a quarter billion dollars in drug money through shell companies to locations around the world.  In serving his criminal clientele with his dirty money-washing business, he lived a rich lifestyle with a multi-million-dollar mansion and lavish purchases.  IRS-CI follows all money, even when it is dirty, and there is no hiding it from our expert investigators.  Today’s conviction is a good reminder of that,” stated IRS-CI New York Special Agent in Charge Chavis.

As proved at trial, from approximately 2020 to 2024, the defendant led a scheme to launder more than $300 million, much of which represented drug proceeds belonging to drug cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel and other transnational criminal organizations.  The defendant was an owner and leader of a company called Treebu, which purported to be a legitimate technology business.  In reality, Treebu’s public-facing operations were a cover for an elaborate multi-million-dollar money laundering enterprise based in Florida and Colombia.

Cartels and other transnational criminal organizations that engage in drug trafficking operate vast criminal enterprises that generate significant revenue globally by trafficking illicit narcotics.  Because these organizations generate billions of dollars in illicit revenue annually from trafficked narcotics, they must find ways to repatriate these proceeds back to their home countries to fund their ongoing enterprises.  In many cases, drug trafficking organizations rely on separate money laundering operations, such as Treebu, to repatriate their funds.  In exchange, money laundering organizations and their associates, like the defendant, earn a significant commission for taking on the risk of laundering illicit proceeds for these criminal organizations.

The defendant established shell companies that were used to open bank accounts used to transmit the illegal proceeds in an effort to obscure the source of the funds. To protect the scheme from detection, the defendant lied to U.S. financial institutions about the purpose and activities of these companies, and he failed to register as a money transmitting business as required under state and federal law.  In total, financial records show that the defendant and his organization laundered more than $300 million.

The defendant used his profits from this scheme for personal expenses and to fund his lavish lifestyle, including to purchase expensive jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels, make payments towards his approximately $4 million Miami mansion, and fund luxury travel, including more than $16,000 on luxury hotel stays abroad in April 2023.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.  Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Amir, Lorena Michelen, and David Berman are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialists Zoubida Bicane and Tareva Torres.

The Defendant:

ALAIN BIBLIOWICZ MITRANI
Age:  51
Miami, Florida

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 25-CR-39 (CBA)