AML / CFT: former cop found with more than USD1m in cash in the boot of his car

Maldonado, 56, is a former Texas State Trooper (the ones with the funny hats, so beloved of caricaturists in, for example, The Dukes of Hazzard) . The Department of Public Safety, which is the managing department for Texas State Troopers, uses the strap line "For A Career As Big as Texas" in its recruiting materials. Maldonado's career was nowhere that big: he was fired in 1995.

It's ironic, because the DPS say that his duties would have included "Apprehend traffic law violators, investigate most rural traffic accidents, recover stolen vehicles and stolen property, apprehend wanted persons, and assist other officers during emergencies."

So, when a Texas State Trooper stopped Maldonado's 2011 model Chrysler 200 (a psuedo-limo) for speeding, the driver knew what to expect. The Chrysler 200 was developed during the ill-fated merger with Mercedes-Benz. And guess what? Maldonado lives in a town called Mercedes in Victoria County, Texas.

At first, he refused to open the boot of his car, a bail hearing was told yesterday. But the (current) officer told the (former) officer that he had no choice and insisted - supported by the evidence of a sniffer dog which indicated that the car boot was of interest.

In the boot, there were bundles of cash "packed in a manner consistent with drugs trafficking." The total? USD1,068,930 the court was told.

Maldonado is keeping mum about the origins and destination of the cash and the police reports do not, so far, say which direction he was travelling in.

Maldonado is being charged with money laundering offences - under Texas state law.

Maldonado is at the beginning of an election campaign for the seat of Constable for Hildago County. In the 2008 election he secured more than 37% of the vote - but still lost (http://www.hgoco.net/elections/results/). The last well-known money laundering case under Texas law also involved a politician: Tom DeLay was convicted of laundering campaign contributions through out-of-state companies.

He has a website: "robertforconstable.org." It describes the office of constable thus :

The Texas Constable is enshrined in the Texas Constitution of 1876 (Article 5, Section 18), which provides for the election of a constable.

In Texas, constables are fully empowered peace officers with county-wide jurisdiction and may legally exercise their authority in their county. Some constables limit themselves to providing law enforcement services only to their respective precinct, except in the case of serving civil and criminal process.

Constables and their deputies may serve civil process in any precinct in their county, and serve warrants anywhere in the state.
Constables must have a peace officer licence within 270 days of taking office, the same for every other police officer.

So, a fired Trooper gets more than one-third of the votes to be an elected cop and support for a second bite at the cherry.

His website says (honestly: this is copy/pasted)

"I decided to join the U.S. Army. I served in the Marine Corp. After specialized training I was assigned to company and sent to Desert Storm. Then I was assigned to XXX. I was honorably discharge on mo/yr.

I joined the Texas Department of Public Safety. Among my duties I patrolled X counties in West Texas.

In 19XX, I Joined (job) ... I meet my lovely (name), I remain blessed that she agreed to marry me."

He ends his profile (and pitch) with the following: "As tax-payers the best deal for our dollar is for Constables to patrol and secure or communities, especially the border."

Depending on the direction he was travelling, it may be that he was making a break for that border with a sizeable chunk of dollars.

No plea has been taken and Maldonado was released on bail of USD250,000. The cash found in the car has been seized.