The Colombian government on Wednesday approved the extradition of a stockbroker, allegedly the “missing link” in the Interbolsa financial scandal, on charges of laundering Mexican cartel money through Colombia.
According to LA FM, the Colombian government on Wednesday approved an extradition request by the Southern District Court in Florida for stockbroker Carlos Eduardo Leyton Sinisterra, who is believed to have key information relating to the laundering of drug money connected with extradited Colombian drug lord Daniel “El Loco” Barrera and Mexican kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
MORE: Daniel ‘El Loco’ Barrera
LA FM released the document from the Florida Court, detailing the charges being brought against Leyton Sinisterra.
The U.S. court accuses Leyton of “having participated in a plan to transfer income generated from drug trafficking in Mexico, the United States and other places” stating that the stockbroker “used U.S. bank accounts, a business in the state of Florida and fake commercial documents in order to gain permission from the Colombian government, to receive U.S. dollars in an account at Intervalores, S.A., a Colombian brokerage firm.”
Leyton, who was a supervisor at Intervalores, is said to have “approved the relevant accounts and authorized the various operations which took place to transfer the funds” which according to the document, amount to $905,240.
Leyton was also a representative for Colombian firm “Proyectar Valores,” which was closely linked to the now-liquidated brokerage firm, Interbolsa. President of the Liberal party, Simon Gaviria, last year requested Leyton’s extradition be delayed in order to find out more about the networks of ‘El Loco’ and ‘El Chapo’, describing Leyton as the “missing link” in the InterBolsa scandal.
MORE: Colombian lawmaker suspects link between InterBolsa, ‘El Loco Barrera’
Now liquidated brokerage firm Interbolsa was at the centre of the biggest financial scandal in modern Colombian history, after a criminal investigation revealed an estimated $500 Million was lost by over 20,000 investors.
MORE: InterBolsa committed ‘substantial tax evasion’: Comptroller General
However an investigation is now being carried out to determine whether the firm was also used to launder funds created from the international drug trafficking trade.
Sources
- Ficha en el caso Interbolsa, a responder en EE. UU. (El Tiempo)
- Avalan extradición del exgerente de Proyectar Valores, Carlos Leyton (LA FM)
- Investigan si el ‘Chapo Guzmán’ lavó dinero a través de Interbolsa (El Espectador)
- ‘No extraditen a Carlos Leyton’ (El Espectador)
- Gobierno autorizó extradición de Carlos Leyton, corredor clave en caso Interbolsa (W Radio)
