By Vish Gain for AMLi
Three US real estate firms have forfeited over $50 million to the federal government after an investigation revealed the defendants accepted millions from international narcotics proceeds laundered through the shadow financial system.
The system known as the Black-Market Peso Exchange allows drug trafficking organisations to transfer narcotics proceeds from the United States to the country in which they operate while concealing the source and nature of the funds. The investigators found that the three firms had reinvested the proceeds into various real estate ventures.