U.S. and New York authorities have arrested a man for allegedly laundering $1 billion in illegal drug proceeds for his investment clients.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency issued a release saying Martin Tremblay, a Canadian who is president of Dominion Investments, a financier adviser incorporated in the Bahamas, was arrested and charged with a series of crimes.
A federal indictment alleges that Tremblay, from 1988 through last December, used company accounts to receive "hundreds of thousands of dollars in the proceeds of international narcotics trafficking, securities fraud schemes, income tax evasion, mail and wire fraud schemes and back fraud, among other crimes." The money allegedly was "laundered" through shell companies into U.S., Bahamian and Canadian banks.
The release alleges that in 2003-04 Tremblay laundered more than $1 billion through those bank accounts.
The DEA said the arrest was made during an undercover sting operation in which Tremblay allegedly agreed to launder large amounts of money from illegal drug sales.
If convicted of money laundering, Tremblay could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined twice the value of the laundered narcotics proceeds.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
