Spain nabs 4 Dominicans in US$17M money laundering bust, Efe

Madrid. – Spanish Police busted a call center in Madrid which allegedly laundered more than US$17 million for Colombia drug traffickers since 2008 and detained its two former and two current owners, all of them Dominican nationals, Efe reports.

The authorities said to launder the money the suspects forged documents and stole identities from at least 15 legitimate clients who provided their passport to send money to their countries of origin.

Investigators said of the more than 20,000 remittances analyzed since mid 2011, 12,000 were used for laundering, arousing suspicion for being sent to Colombia by clients of different nationalities, in amounts much higher than normal and without apparent family links between remitters and beneficiaries.