DETROIT, MI — The Department of Justice has unsealed a civil case aiming to forfeit over $14.9 million seized from an international drug money laundering scheme, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced Monday, March 16.
The lawsuit — originally filed in 2024 — details the seizure of the funds a year prior and alleges a complex pattern of trade-based drug money laundering.
Trade-based money laundering involves depositing U.S. cash drug proceeds into American bank accounts, through the use of real or shell companies. The companies then transfer the wealth elsewhere by delivering products or services that can be sold in local currencies…