Soap never looked this dirty. Reuters/Nacho Doce
An alleged money laundering scheme, fronted by 10 million bars of soap
An alleged money laundering scheme, fronted by 10 million bars of soap
The moment money launderers get lazy is the moment they get caught. Such is the case with two men who allegedly decided that transferring a lump sum of $9.7 million to buy 10 million bars of soap wouldn’t turn any heads.
Late Thursday, Costa Rican investigators raided the office (Spanish link) of Alvaro Moya, a Costa Rican lawyer, and the hotel room of AgustÃn Lyon, a Venezuelan national, to gather more evidence about the extent of their suspected money laundering scheme. Authorities were tipped off when a bank in Costa Rica flagged a bank account tied to Lyon’s name for suspicious activity.
Shortly after $9.7 million was deposited into Lyon’s account by government-owned Venezuelan companies for the purchase of 10 million bars of soap, nearly $6 million more flooded in. Because the extra cash came in without an explanatory receipt, and Lyon promptly withdrew $1.2 million of it, the bank froze the accounts....MORE