A Chula Vista aircraft broker admitted in federal court Wednesday to laundering money through the purchase of dozens of light planes by means of convoluted financial transactions over a five-year period.
Vicente Contreras-Amezquita, 47, entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Michael Anello in San Diego.
Contreras-Amezquita, owner and manager of Aeropartes Baja and Vekve Corp., facilitated the purchase of planes and aircraft parts for exportation to Mexico by laundering and structuring illicit proceeds into 46 business and personal bank accounts he controlled, according to prosecutors.
In his plea, the defendant conceded that his accomplices deposited more than $3.6 million in 525 structured cash deposits used to buy airplanes for exportation to Mexico. He further admitted that he facilitated the purchase of airplanes on behalf of third parties to conceal the source of the illicit proceeds.
To conceal the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the criminal proceeds and to evade the reporting requirements, Contreras-Amezquita made arrangements to receive bulk cash at various locations, including strip malls, parking lots, aircraft hangars and fast-food restaurants, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
Immediately after receiving the funds, Contreras-Amezquita would direct and instruct his crew to arrange for structured cash deposits under $10,000 each into different financial institutions, prosecutors allege.
According to court documents, federal agents seized about $104,000 in cash from Contreras-Amezquita during a traffic stop in November 2011 and roughly $249,820 from him the following month.
Contreras-Amezquita facilitated the acquisition and purchase of Cessnas – – a type of aircraft preferred by Mexican drug-trafficking gangs — and airplane parts, including auxiliary fuel tanks, heavy-duty tires and landing gear for landing on clandestine airfields, prosecutors allege.
Last week, co-defendant Hector Hernandez, an airplane broker from Torrance, also entered a guilty plea to money-laundering charges in the case, admitting that he arranged for delivery of substantial bulk cash to Contreras- Amezquita as part of the scheme
Contreras-Amezquita will face a maximum of 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines at his June 5 sentencing, officials said.
–City News Service
