MIAMI.- Markenzy Lapointe, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced five charges against a Georgia businessman, a former Honduran government official and a former Florida resident for their alleged participation in an international pay-and-hide scheme. bribing Honduran government officials to obtain contracts to provide uniforms. and other assets to the National Police of Honduras.
According to court documents, Carl Alan Zaglin, 68, owns a police uniform and accessory manufacturing company based in Georgia, and made his initial appearance in federal court in December; Francisco Roberto Cosenza Centeno, 65, is the former Executive Director of the Technical Committee of the Trust for the Administration of the Population Protection and Security Fund (TASA), a Honduran government entity that acquired goods for the Honduran National Police; and Aldo Néstor Marchena, 50, was a resident of Boca Raton, Florida.
Between March 2015 and approximately November 2019, Zaglin, Marchena and others allegedly agreed to bribe Honduran government officials, including Cosenza, to obtain contracts with TASA worth more than $10 million. In exchange for the bribes, Cosenza and other Honduran government officials allegedly helped Zaglin, Marchena and others obtain contracts for the sale of uniforms and other goods to the Honduran National Police and secure payment for the contracts. Zaglin, Marchena, and their co-conspirators allegedly used proceeds from corrupt Honduran government contracts to pay bribes to Honduran government officials. To further the scheme and conceal bribe payments, Zaglin, Marchena, Cosenza and others allegedly laundered the proceeds of the corrupt scheme through bank accounts and front companies in the United States and Belize. As alleged in the indictment, the conspirators sent more than $166,000 to bank accounts controlled by Cosenza and another Honduran foreign official to further the scheme.
All those involved are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cosenza and Marchena are also each charged with one count of money laundering and one count of engaging in transactions with property derived from crimes. Zaglin and Marchena are also charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Lapointe’s office said.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the money laundering offenses, 10 years in prison for the charge of engaging in transactions in property derived from crimes, and five years in prison for each. one of the offenses related to the FCPA.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of the Miami Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) They made the announcement.
HSI’s Miami office is investigating the case, with assistance from HSI’s Atlanta, Georgia office.
Assistant United States Attorney Eli S. Rubin for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Peter L. Cooch and Anthony Scarpelli of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
In June 2021, the Department of Justice announced an Anti-Corruption Task Force that will focus on corruption-related investigations, prosecutions, and asset recoveries in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador through the department’s FCPA enforcement program, Anti-Narcotics Prosecutions. and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
Anyone with information about corrupt actors in these countries who are violating U.S. laws or moving the proceeds of their crimes in or through the United States can report the conduct in Spanish or English to (email protected) .
The Anti-Corruption Task Force will review suggestions regarding possible corruption or movements of ill-gotten funds received through the email address. Reporters who want to report suspicious or criminal activity can also contact the HSI Tip Line at (866) 347-2423.
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