Seven charged in Panama-Colombia Ponzi drug case
(miamiherald.com) The principal suspects in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme linked to scandals of alleged illicit payments to officials in Colombia and presidential candidates in Panama have been charged in a New York federal court with laundering drug trafficking profits.
At least 11 properties in South Florida and California have been seized in connection with the case, which involves the firm DMG and its principal broker and owner, David Murcia Guzmán. Six others were also charged.
According to the charges, the organization opened an account at a U.S. branch office of Merrill Lynch and deposited $2.1 million, an amount prosecutors hope to show is connected to money Mexican drug cartels paid to Colombian drug traffickers.
Following the scandal, several Colombian officials and one of President Alvaro Uribe's sons had to explain their links to the suspects.
In investigating if they received money from Murcia, Panama's electoral tribunal on Friday stripped legal privileges from two presidential candidates, Balbina Herrera and Ricardo Martinelli.
As part of the scheme, the suspects created a New York company that then purchased five office units at 175 SW Seventh St. in Miami as well as other real estate in Miami's Brickell district, Aventura and Miami Beach.
