Major players plead guilty in ‘funnel account’ scam at Rio Rico bank
Nogales International, 2 May 2021
Three key members of a scheme to transfer organized crime proceeds from the United States to Mexico through so-called “funnel accounts” opened at the Wells Fargo bank in Rio Rico have now pleaded guilty to federal charges.
The latest guilty plea, which was accepted by a judge during a hearing on Wednesday at U.S. District Court in Tucson, was from Carlos Antonio Vasquez, the former manager of the bank branch. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering – a crime that normally carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but for which Vasquez will receive no more than 34 months (2 years, 10 months) in exchange for his plea.
The conspiracy reportedly lasted from February 2017 until August 2019. Continue reading “Article: Major players plead guilty in ‘funnel account’ scam at Rio Rico bank”
Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia (D-TX)is a committee member of the 116th Congress U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. She is an American politician who has been serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 29th congressional district since 2019. Her district covers much of eastern Houston. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented District 6 in the Texas Senate. In the early 1980s, Houston Mayor Kathryn Whitmire appointed Garcia as presiding judge of the Houston Municipal System. She served for an unprecedented five terms under two mayors. In 1998, Garcia became Houston city controller. In 2002, Garcia was elected to the Harris County Commissioner’s Court. She graduated from Texas Woman’s University (BA), and Texas Southern University (JD).
Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-Ill) is a committee member of the 116th Congress U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. He is a Mexican-born American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 4th district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, Illinois Senate, as well as Chicago City Council before his election to Congress. In 1983, García was the campaign manager for labor organizer Rudy Lozano. Garcia graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago (BA, MUP).
Michael John Garcia is an American lawyer, judge and former government official. Since February 2016, he has served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, that state’s highest court. He is a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (2005–2008). Between his service as United States Attorney and his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Garcia was a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. He has also served as chairman of El Museo del Barrio. Garcia previously served as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2003–2005), Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (2002–2003), Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement (2001–2002), and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York (1992–2001). Garcia graduated from Albany Law School of Union University in 1989.