Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MIAMI – On Jan. 8, U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian entered a final judgment forfeiting to the United States over $20 million in foreign bribery and money laundering proceeds, including interest.
On Aug. 9, 2023, the Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint against approximately $21,248,434.25 in U.S. currency alleging that the funds were proceeds of foreign bribery and money laundering offenses. As alleged in the complaint, from 2008 to 2014, a Venezuelan national, Naman Wakil, controlled a number of companies that sold food products to Venezuela’s state-owned food agency, Corporacion de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agricola (CASA). To obtain these food contracts, Wakil paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to multiple presidents of CASA. As a result of those bribes, Wakil, through his companies, obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds into accounts he controlled in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Wakil laundered the proceeds from the scheme into South Florida and elsewhere.
“This forfeiture is a reminder that the United States is prepared to uphold the integrity of the U.S. financial system against those who elect to launder ill-gotten gains by depositing and transferring those funds through U.S. financial accounts and acquiring assets in an attempt to cover their tracks,” said Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
“This significant forfeiture underscores the HSI Miami El Dorado Task Force’s commitment to safeguarding the U.S. financial system from illicit activities. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that those who seek to launder money through our financial institutions are held accountable,” said José R. Figueroa Acting Special Agent in Charge Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami.
“This announcement underscores our commitment to holding accountable those who engage in foreign bribery and money laundering,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Hipkins of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office. “This forfeiture of more than $20 million demonstrates our resolve to disrupt criminal networks and ensure their corrupt practices do not go unpunished. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to combat financial crimes that undermine the rule of law and global stability.”
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of HSI Miami, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Hipkins of IRS-CI Miami Field Office made the announcement.
HSI Miami Field Office and IRS-CI Miami Field Office investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marx P. Calderón, Michael Berger, and Joshua Paster prosecuted this case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-cv-22987.
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