This week, executives for a Los Angeles-based freight forwarder were accused of illegally smuggling billions of dollars’ worth of goods from the United States into Mexico.
On May 27, Ralph Olarte, 55, the chief financial officer of freight forwarder Sport LA, was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport after a 22-count federal grand jury indictment was filed charging him and the company’s chief executive officer Humberto Lopez Belmonte, 53, of Mexico City.
The two men and Sport LA are charged with with one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, three counts of knowingly submitting false and misleading export information, five counts of wire fraud for false information submitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud against Mexico, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and seven counts of international promotional and concealment money laundering…