Prolific international money launderer sentenced to 15 years in prison

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Paraguay-based transnational money launderer was sentenced today to 15 years in prison.

According to court documents, Federico Ezequiel Santoro Vassallo, aka Capitan, 46, was a close associate of Uruguayan national Sebastian Enrique Marset Cabrera, 29, who, as alleged in an indictment, is a transnational drug-trafficker responsible for moving ton quantities of cocaine worth millions of dollars from South America to Europe. Santoro served as a transnational money launderer for drug-trafficking organizations and facilitated the movement of millions of dollars of drug proceeds from various countries in Europe to South America and elsewhere.

Santoro and his co-conspirators arranged for the collection of narcotics proceeds and utilized couriers and tokens to covertly deliver bulk illicit currency, typically in euros. Santoro’s co-conspirators specialized in placing the illicit currency into the global banking system. He then would direct the movement of the funds internationally, usually via bank wire transfer. Santoro typically directed that the funds be delivered in U.S. dollars and a correspondent bank in the United States would facilitate the transaction.

Santoro used at least seven businesses to facilitate the transmission of money and hid the location and ownership of the assets being laundered by using unrelated companies, all registered as purportedly doing business in different, unrelated industries. Santoro used businesses registered in South America and Asia to receive the laundered drug proceeds and concealed the source of the funds by creating false invoices to justify the wire transfers.

Santoro threatened violence to protect his money laundering activities. Santoro laundered millions of dollars of drug proceeds and, in a span of less than five months, directed the movement of more than $11 million in drug-trafficking funds through U.S. banks. As payment, Santoro took a percentage of the illicit bulk cash proceeds that he laundered.

As part of the sentence, the Court entered an Order of Forfeiture in the amount of $11,537,860.47.

Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Louis A. D’Ambrosio, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Special Operations Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and law enforcement partners in Paraguay provided substantial assistance to secure the arrest and extradition of Santoro Vassallo.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony T. Aminoff and Catherine Rosenberg prosecuted the case.

Anyone with information about Marset’s operation, including his drug trafficking, money laundering, and use of (or threats to use) violence, or about his location, is urged to contact the DEA by email at MarsetTips@dea.gov.

This investigation 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:23-cr-143.