Venezuelan Man Faces 20 Years for Alleged $1B Crypto Money Laundering Scheme
Federal prosecutors have charged a Venezuelan nationwide with laundering roughly one billion {dollars} via crypto wallets and shell corporations in what officers describe as one of many largest money-laundering operations prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Jorge Figueira, 59, faces as much as 20 years in jail if convicted of conspiracy to launder cash, with authorities alleging his community processed illicit funds throughout a number of continents whereas intentionally concealing transactions from legislation enforcement.
The grievance filed in Virginia’s Eastern District accuses Figueira of directing a classy laundering equipment that transformed money into cryptocurrency, routed digital belongings via a number of wallets, then exchanged them again into {dollars} earlier than transferring proceeds to supposed recipients in high-risk jurisdictions, together with Colombia, China, Panama, and Mexico.
Prosecutors say a couple of billion {dollars} moved via recognized crypto wallets and monetary accounts between 2018 and the current, with the vast majority of inbound funds originating from crypto buying and selling platforms.
Billion-Dollar Network Operated Through Multiple Jurisdictions
Court paperwork reveal that Figueira allegedly enlisted subordinates to execute a whole bunch of transfers designed to obscure the origins and locations of funds.
The operation relied on varied financial institution accounts, crypto change accounts, personal digital wallets, and shell corporations to maneuver voluminous quantities of illicit cash into and out of the United States, in accordance with federal investigators.
FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis stated the bureau recognized roughly $1 billion in crypto passing via wallets utilized by Figueira’s laundering operation.
The community allegedly served people and companies worldwide whereas conducting scores of transfers supposed to hide the character of funds and probably facilitate felony exercise throughout quite a few international locations.
U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan emphasised the dimensions of alleged felony conduct, stating that “cash laundering at this stage allows transnational felony organizations to function, develop, and inflict real-world hurt.”
“Those who transfer illicit funds within the billions ought to count on to be recognized, disrupted, and held totally accountable underneath federal legislation,” she warned.
Federal Crackdown Extends Across Multiple Crypto Crime Networks
The prices towards Figueira arrive amid intensified federal enforcement focusing on crypto-related cash laundering nationwide.
In reality, earlier this week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg urged New York lawmakers to criminalize unlicensed crypto operations he characterised as a “$51 billion felony economic system.“
Federal data exhibits the scope of crypto-enabled crime, with the FBI reporting practically 11,000 crypto ATM-related complaints in 2024 totaling greater than $246 million.
Separately, blockchain analytics agency Chainalysis found that illicit crypto addresses obtained a file $154 billion in 2025, a pointy improve from earlier years.
Recent prosecutions have focused operations throughout the felony spectrum.
On Thursday, Utah resident Brian Garry Sewell was sentenced to three years in prison for operating a $2.9 million fraud scheme whereas concurrently working an unlicensed cash-to-crypto enterprise that transformed greater than $5.4 million in bulk money.
Last month, prosecutors charged one other 23-year-old Brooklyn resident, Ronald Spektor, with stealing roughly $16 million from roughly 100 Coinbase customers via alleged phishing schemes that relied on panic techniques slightly than technical hacks.
With all these huge seizures that continue to grow, the federal government has moved to determine the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, formalizing the retention of seized crypto slightly than auctioning it.
This was one of many first issues Donald Trump did when he took workplace, even signing an govt order to assist it.
Recently, issues took a special flip when it was discovered that the U.S. Department of Justice seems to have offered 57 Bitcoin forfeited by Samourai Wallet builders.
A White House crypto advisor stated the US authorities has not offered any Bitcoin forfeited within the Samourai Wallet case.#DOJ #Bitcoinhttps://t.co/pfX7fkilo8
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) January 17, 2026
However, White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt confirmed yesterday, Friday, that the Bitcoin forfeited within the case has not been liquidated and can stay a part of the reserve per govt order, with present federal holdings estimated at 328,372 BTC valued at over $31 billion.
For now, a felony grievance is merely an accusation, and Figueira is presumed harmless till confirmed responsible. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Rosenberg is prosecuting the case, with sentencing tips and statutory elements to be thought-about if a conviction happens.
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