CBW gets the dirty truth from an international money launderer

"Hot Money, High Stakes and Cocaine Cowboys - combating money laundering and corruption" was the topic of the ICC Crime Services' annual Economic Crime Lecture and the CBW Forensic team sponsored the event.

The event kicked off with Paul Smethurst and Peter Luscombe of the CBW team speaking about current developments in money laundering techniques and the approach of the authorities together with some examples of real cases that they have worked on.

 The main speaker, Humberyo Aguilar, was a former US lawyer and, up until he was caught, a spectacularly successful money launderer working for international drug smugglers.

It was a spellbinding (and completely surreal) insight into Humberto's "old life" as a gun weilding, Rolex dispensing, brown envelope giving money launderer. He found ingenious ways to clean vast amounts of cash and move it around the world for his clients. He was extremely well paid for his efforts and said that he had the time of his life.

However, the law eventually caught up with him (thanks to a tip off from his ex father-in-law) and he was indicted for money laundering in Federal District Court, fled to Spain but was then arrested and extradited back to the USA. He spent 15 years in prison after which time he turned his life around. Although an attempted assissination may have had somethng to do with his change of heart!

In his "new life" he now advises on how he believes money laundering and corruption can best be tackled.

When asked if he would do it all again he said "Absolutely not. It only took one night in prison to convince me to come completely clean".

Humberto Aguilar, ex-international money launderer