A Venezuelan national has been charged in the United States with running a large-scale money laundering operation that allegedly moved around $1 billion through cryptocurrency and traditional financial channels, U.S. authorities said on Friday.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the criminal complaint was filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, accusing Jorge Figueira, 59, of conspiracy to launder money.
Court documents allege that Figueira used a complex network of bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchange accounts, private crypto wallets, and shell companies to move illicit funds into and out of the United States.
Investigators say the operation relied heavily on cryptocurrency to obscure the origin of the money. Funds were allegedly converted into digital assets, sent through multiple wallets, and then routed to liquidity providers who exchanged the crypto back into U.S. dollars. The dollars were then transferred to bank accounts controlled by Figueira or sent onward to other recipients.
Authorities say this multi-step process was designed to make the transactions harder to trace and to conceal the true source of the funds from law enforcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it identified roughly $1 billion in cryptocurrency that passed through wallets allegedly linked to the laundering network.
Investigators claim the funds were moved through dozens of transfers involving individuals and businesses across multiple countries, suggesting the operation may have supported criminal activity beyond U.S. borders.
According to prosecutors, most of the money entering Figueira’s accounts came from cryptocurrency trading platforms. The majority of outgoing transfers were sent to businesses and individuals in the United States and overseas.
Authorities pointed to several high-risk jurisdictions where funds were allegedly sent, including Colombia, China, Panama, and Mexico.
If convicted, Figueira faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Any sentence would be determined by a federal judge after considering U.S. sentencing guidelines and other legal factors.
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