Oakland business owner sentenced for money laundering to cartels
OAKLAND, Calif. - The owner of Rincon Musical, a money-transmitting business in Oakland, has been sentenced after being convicted of money laundering drug proceeds through his business.
Felipe de Jesus Ornelas Mora, 51, and his employees knowingly accepted large amounts of money from drug dealers, wiring it to Mexico and Honduras using other uninvolved customers' identities to disguise the actions and make the transactions look like routine remittances, according to federal authorities.
These transactions took place at the International Boulevard business from no later than September 2020 to August 2022.
The 51-year-old was convicted for conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, and three years of supervised release.
Ornelas Mora and his employees would wire money totaling less than $3,000, which is below the federal threshold requiring businesses to report the transactions to the government.
Federal authorities said the investigation into Ornelas Mora and his business began after wire receipts were found on arrested drug dealers' cell phones.
According to his plea agreement, Ornelas Mora admitted that large amounts of money he and his employees received from certain people was drug money, and the actions he and his workers took were done to avoid the mandatory reporting requirements.
"Money and greed are the foundation of the cartel business model and Ornelas Mora provided a lifeline by laundering drug proceeds," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark.
"By disrupting the flow of drug money, this Office demonstrates its commitment to a sweeping approach to combatting the drug trade in the Northern District of California. Today’s sentence should send a signal to other money services businesses who launder drug proceeds and abuse the financial system: we will find you and we will prosecute you," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins.
"Facilitating the profitability of drug trafficking by laundering illegal drug proceeds perpetuates the deadly drug epidemic in our communities, and we will not stand for it," said CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley.