What happened: A New York federal judge has sentenced Leonardo de Jesus Zuluaga Duque to 160 months in prison, alongside five years of supervised release and a nearly $14.8 million forfeiture order. Prosecutors revealed that the Colombia-based crypto broker played a supervisory role in laundering approximately $14.5 million in Tether derived from drug trafficking, routing the funds through unlicensed money transmitters, US shell companies, and traditional banking systems before converting them into Colombian pesos.
Why it matters: This case highlights how illicit actors attempt to blend stablecoins like Tether with traditional banking and shell companies to move money across borders. For the crypto community, it underscores increasing global scrutiny on the touchpoints where digital assets intersect with fiat banking, proving that authorities are actively tracking multi-layered financial routes.
