Attorney pleads guilty in $52M money laundering scheme for Sinaloa Cartel; another man sought

Alberto David Benguait Jimenez Photo courtesy of U S Department of the Treasury A Mexico City attorney who prosecutors say had a leading role in laundering millions through San Diego-based shell companies has pleaded guilty to federal charges bureaucrats declared Friday Prosecutors say at least million generated across the country through the Sinaloa Cartel s drug trafficking passed through the shell companies then into Mexican bank accounts controlled by Hector Alejandro Paez Garcia Employees allegedly travelled to dozens of U S cities to pick up cash in amounts of up to that were then laundered through the shell companies Paez was described by the U S Attorney s Office as serving a managerial role in the money laundering organization the target of a long-running FBI examination that resulted in arrests and the seizure of more than million in illicit assets A DEA operation netted more arrests and asset seizures totaling Federal officials are still searching for one more alleged leader of the organization Alberto David Benguait Jimenez also Benguait was sanctioned earlier this year by the U S Treasury Department which disclosed he s laundered millions on behalf of the cartel and an alleged fentanyl trafficker Prosecutors say that after of the organization s bank accounts were seized by federal executives Paez oversaw efforts to transfer drug proceeds into cryptocurrency as a means of avoiding law enforcement But the FBI was able to infiltrate and take down the organization s cryptocurrency laundering setup agents stated in a news release Paez pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court earlier this month He is due to be sentenced Aug He faces a maximum sentence of years in prison and a fine Charges have been filed against several other alleged co-conspirators accused of assisting in laundering drug proceeds or acting as cash couriers Anyone with information concerning Benguait was required to contact the FBI at - -