Fourteen Venezuelans jailed in US for money laundering http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/05/19/en_eco_esp_fourteen-venezuelans_19A3893331.shtml

US authorities produced "bulky" evidence against 16 people accused of alleged conspiracy to launder money from drug trafficking through Venezuela's foreign exchange swap market.So far, 15 out of the 16 defendants have been arrested in South Florida, New York and Puerto Rico, Efe reported.Most of the defendants are Venezuelans: Herman Rafael Solorzano Caguaripano and his son Herman Alejandro Solorzano Rincon, Georges Toutounji, Fortunato Farache, Douglas Enrique Sanchez Soto, Edgar Hadad Azraca and Alba Villalobos Vergel;

Alfredo Ramon Soto Diaz, Miguel Jose Perez Rivero, Luis Enrique Homez Garcia, Henry Eduardo Bilbao Movilla, Rafael Polanco, Antoine Jean Melhem, and Johan Alberto Rincon Medina. Nercido Sosa Medina, from Dominican Republic and residing in New York, and Luis Rafael Diaz Plaza, from Puerto Rico, were also arrested.Courts have set bails from $200,000 to $1 million.According to federal prosecutors, Herman Rafael Solorzano Caguaripano and his son Herman Alejandro allegedly collected money in Puerto Rico and took it in suitcases to Florida.

In Miami, they deposited the money in several bank accounts or transferred it to people residing in South Florida, according to authorities.Following instructions from cover agent Edwin Lopez of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Solorzano Caguaripano negotiated with Alba Villalobos an exchange rate to sell her US dollars allegedly from drug trafficking.Judge Joan Lenard, who ruled in the case of alleged conspiracy to hide the source and destination of $800,000 that Guido Antonini Wilson tried to smuggle in Argentina from Venezuela in 2007, is ruling on the case.