Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Yankel Rosenthal pleads guilty to money laundering

On August 29 of this year, Yankel Rosenthal plead guilty to money laundering through corrupt real estate deals in the United States, specifically that he took money from the Los Cachiros Cartel, and used it to buy real estate in the United States for them.  Rosenthal told the court he atttempted to help a friend buy the real estate, even though he knew the friend provided services to the drug traffickers, but that the purchase never happened.

Rosenthal is the former Investment Minister in the government of Juan Orlando Hernandez in Honduras.  He is the nephew of former Vice President Jaime Rosenthal Oliva

Prosecutors say they could have proved additional charges if the case had gone to trial; instead they reached a plea deal with Yankel Rosenthal.  They allege that Rosenthal used over $500,000 of drug money to invest in the popular soccer team, Marathon, in San Pedro Sula.  They allege Rosenthal solicited a bribe in 2013 from a US Oil exploration company in return for permission to explore for oil in Honduras.

Yankel Rosenthal Coello will be sentenced in January, 2018.

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