2 men accused of operating crypto money laundering scheme that transferred $8M to ATMs in Colombia

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said Wednesday that she filed criminal charges against two men for operating a cryptocurrency money laundering scheme, which involved transferring approximately $8 million to be withdrawn from ATMs in Colombia.

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Juan Paulo Galeano and Carlos Andrews Cardona Gomez have been charged with money laundering and operating as an unlicensed money transmitter.

The men created shell digital consulting companies to purchase cryptocurrency and then used multiple financial institutions in Florida to operate a money-service business without a license, Moody’s office said.

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The Broward Sheriff’s Office said it arrested Galeano, and Cardona is a fugitive in Colombia.

“This criminal duo operated a money-service business without a license to transfer approximately $8 million in an elaborate cryptocurrency laundering scheme, creating a flow of millions of dollars’ worth of U.S. currency right into Medellin, Colombia,” Moody said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to multiple federal and state partners working together on this complex investigation, we have shut down this international criminal scheme.”

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