A North Miami couple is accused of laundering millions of dollars for a "sophisticated" international human smuggling organization through multiple local businesses.
Eduardo Pereira, 49, and Marcia Tiago, 48, are accused of being the primary money launderers for Vantuir De Souza, the alleged kingpin of the organization who is under house arrest in Brazil pending human smuggling charges, according to an arrest warrant.
Though the couple was charged in Miami-Dade, a Broward County Sheriff's Office task force led the money laundering operation – named Operation: Florida Phoenix – that uncovered details related to the illicit flow of money.
The De Souza operation was found to have set up a network of captains and small vessels to separately smuggle narcotics and people to the United States.
Pereira and Tiago face the same charges:
- Three counts of money laundering greater than $100,000
- Two counts of engaging in an unlicensed money service business greater than $100,000
- One count of engaging in an unlicensed money service business from $20,000 to $100,000
The federal charges could see the couple behind bars for decades.
The judge ordered the couple to be placed under house arrest if they were able to pay the $300,000 bond they were individually ordered to post. They must also prove the money used to post bond came from a legitimate source.
Citing cooperating witnesses, authorities conservatively estimate that hundreds of people were smuggled into the United States – primarily through the route of Brazil to the Caribbean, where a travel visa is not required, and then by boat to South Florida. The people smuggled in would ultimately be transported by vehicles to the area of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where they would often stay, the arrest warrant adds.
The organization charged up to $25,000 per person smuggled. That charge was usually paid in cash by the friends and family of the people being smuggled in.
The husband and wife are accused of laundering $3.6 million in 2015, $4.5 million in 2016 and $170,000 in 2017 "by way of seemingly innocuous payments for goods and services in a further attempt to layer and conceal the source of the illicit funds."