Venezuelan national gets 12 years for laundering over $1 billion through crypto and bank accounts
Jorge Figueira, 60, who lived in Miami, was sentenced in Alexandria, Virginia, for conspiracy to launder money and agreed to a $1 billion money judgment. Prosecutors say his network mixed crypto wallets, exchange accounts, bank accounts and shell companies.
Jorge Figueira, a 60-year-old Venezuelan national who lived in Miami, was sentenced on 3 November 2026 to 12 years in prison for conspiracy to launder money, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said. Figueira also agreed to a $1 billion money judgment. A money judgment is a court order that lets the government collect a set amount from a defendant, even if the original funds are gone. U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. imposed the sentence.
According to the US Attorney's Office, Figueira laundered billions of dollars for numerous and varied illicit actors, including drug trafficking organizations. Prosecutors say his network used bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchange accounts, private crypto wallets and shell companies. Funds were converted to crypto, sent to digital wallets, exchanged for US dollars through liquidity providers, and then moved to Figueira's bank accounts and on to the final recipients. The aim, according to the office, was to hide the nature of the funds from law enforcement.
The office said more than a billion dollars moved through the identified cryptocurrency wallet and various financial accounts. Most incoming funds came from crypto trading platforms. Most outgoing funds went to businesses and individuals in the US and abroad, including high-risk jurisdictions such as Colombia, China, Panama and Mexico.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant US Attorneys Catherine Rosenberg and Edgardo Rodriguez prosecuted it. The case number is 1:26-cr-74.
Why it matters to AML professionals
Professional launderers often sit between crypto platforms and the banking system, turning crypto into dollars through liquidity providers and moving the money through accounts that look like ordinary business accounts. Banks and crypto platforms that see only their own side of these flows can miss the pattern. Connecting crypto inflows to fiat payments to high-risk jurisdictions is a core skill for AML professionals in both sectors.
Red flags in this case
- A personal or small-business bank account that mainly receives funds from crypto exchanges or liquidity providers and quickly pays them out
- Large outgoing payments to many unrelated businesses or individuals in higher-risk jurisdictions with no clear trade purpose
- Shell companies with little visible business activity that move high volumes of funds
- Crypto converted to fiat and sent onward within hours or days, leaving low balances
If this landed in your queue
- Map the account's inflows by counterparty type and flag any heavy reliance on crypto exchanges or OTC liquidity providers
- Check whether the customer's stated business explains the volume and the jurisdictions of outgoing payments
- Review beneficial ownership of any linked companies and look for shared signers, addresses or devices
- If the activity cannot be explained, escalate for a SAR and document the full flow from crypto source to final recipient
Key terms
- Money judgment
- A court order that sets an amount the defendant must pay the government, collectable from any of the defendant's assets.
- Liquidity provider
- A firm or trader that buys and sells crypto in large amounts, often used to convert crypto into cash currency.
- Professional money launderer
- Someone who launders money for others as a service, often for several criminal groups at once.
Interview angle
How would you spot a professional money launderer using crypto off-ramps through a bank account?
Talk about counterparty analysis: inflows from crypto platforms or liquidity providers, rapid outflows to many unrelated parties, high-risk destinations, and a business profile that does not explain the volume. Mention linking accounts through shared ownership and escalating with a clear SAR narrative.
Sources
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