El Presidente is no doubt feeling maladjusted over all this.
The FBI says two men have been indicted in connection with an alleged money-laundering scheme tied to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s children.
The indictments come after a years-long investigation that dates back to 2019 when the FBI’s Miami Field Office launched the probe based on indications that Arick Komarczyk opened U.S. bank accounts for Maduro’s children and their U.S.-based associates. Suspicious Activity Reports allegedly showed that Komarczyk received wire transfers from individuals and businesses in Venezuela, according to the FBI.
An undercover operation in 2022 revealed that Komarczyk and his associate, Irazmar Carbajal, agreed to move $100,000 of what the FBI believed to be sanctioned money belonging to members of Venezuela’s government. The FBI said the men moved about $25,000 into the U.S.
The bureau noted that when confronted about the situation, Kormarczyk was not alarmed, rather he called it “sexy business.”
It’s not so sexy when there’s a prison sentence involved.
FBI Director Kash Patel said money-laundering schemes linked to Maduro were “criminal lifelines” for his regime.
“Nicolás Maduro is not just another corrupt strongman, he is an indicted narcoterrorist dictator with a $50 million bounty on his head from the United States Department of Justice,” Patel said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. “His regime’s laundering schemes are nothing more than criminal lifelines for a failing dictatorship, and under my leadership, this FBI will continue to choke off every dollar, every account, and every enabler. America will never be a safe haven for Maduro’s blood money.”
On Sept. 25, both Kormarczyk and Carbajal were indicted in Florida. Kormarczyk was indicted on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit unlicensed money transmitting, while Carbajal was indicted for conspiracy to commit unlicensed money transmitting.
What would be interesting is to see to what extent these two are willing to sing about the rest of Maduro’s extracurricular activities. Of course, the ideal outcome of all this would be having Maduro face a judge and jury in an American courtroom, but that doesn’t look likely; it would be mildly amazing to see him put himself in a position to be snagged by American law enforcement. Bringing him to trial would involve sending someone in to get him, that someone likely being Army special forces or Marines, and that’s probably not a road we want to go down right now.
We can, and should, take down operations like this, though. We’re interdicting Venezuelan drug boats, as noted. Now we’re cleaning up his money-laundering operations. Every step along these lines loosens his grip on Venezuela. Every step brings him closer to the day when he’ll be racing desperately towards a remote airfield, suitcases stuffed full of cash and jewels in the trunk of his car, hoping that some other Latin American dictator will take him in, while remembering that the milk of human kindness flows very sparingly in such people.
That would be the best outcome. That’s why these takedowns are good news.
Nicolás Maduro may well be on the brink of losing control of Venezuela. So, let’s open the door and push him through.
This seems appropriate.
