wmlro.com: the bear essentials of laundering
A Californian woman has been charged with money laundering after discovery of an alleged scheme to soft toys manufactured in China. So have her colleagues and the company they ran. The goods, including teddy bears, were then delivered to Colombia where they were sold in the open market to pay for drugs previously delivered into the USA.
The woman, 57 year old Meichun Cheng Huang is one of three senior executives of toy company Angel Toy Corporation. It is alleged that she, along with the company's CEO Ling Yu, 52 and Xiaoxin Ju, 48, known as Judy, the company's accounts manager, set up a scheme under which the company purchased the goods, including teddy bears, in China. The goods were then shipped to Colombia and sold there, providing an audit trail for the proceeds of sale.
It is alleged that cash deposits, all structured to fall below the USD10,000 cash reporting threshold, were made at various banks.
It is alleged that the scheme, a variation of the well-known Black Market Peso Exchange, allowed some USD8.6 million to be sent to Colombia.
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