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Vincent Schifano is a New Yorker of Italian descent who spent a long season in RussiaHe spent at least 4 months in Colombia exploring oil projects, and now pays a 9-year prison sentence in a cell in the South Carolina medium-security prison for laundering drug money.
The 64-year-old man was convicted last March for laundering part of the silver with which, according to the DEA, ‘Jesús Santrich’ negotiated 10,000 kilos of coca with Mexican cartels, after the signing of the peace agreement between the Farc and the Santos government.
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Schifano was the one who drove the van with tinted windows who, on April 9, 2018, was waiting for her around the Miami airport with $ 10 million.
While the District Attorney’s Office captured ‘Santrich’ in Colombia, Miami Police mounted a checkpoint on I-95 (the interstate highway), and stopped Schifano, under the pretext of reviewing his permit for tinted windows. After the requisition, he was captured because he could not explain the origin of the banknotes.
That episode, revealed by EL TIEMPO last September, was the beginning of an express accusation against Schifano that culminated in his 108-month sentence, which his lawyer has just appealed.
Using human sources, files and direct information from the DEA, this newspaper investigated the convicted person and established that presents himself as an old player in money laundering by international mafias, including the Russian and Italian ones.
Schifano apparently uses companies in several countries, in the oil sector, to camouflage the illicit money. And Colombia would not have been the exception.
The launderer was taped by Ken Saunders, DEA special agent, speaking to ex-Farc emissaries about the laundering operation, and assured them that it had the perfect mechanism to camouflage drug money through the alleged business that I was searching with the Colombian government.
I can play the game however I want
“Schifano assured that he had many friends in the country and that he spent three months there, as part of a $ 120 million operation, for which he prepared a plane in Panama (…). Said, Furthermore, if he had project approval, he could send $ 120 million for contracts and use them to hide payments.“The DEA agent assured.
In the audio you can hear him say that he had presented a second pipeline project in Colombia and if he won it, he could move 300 million dollars.
“I can play the game however I want,” Schifano said.
According to the DEA, the information reassured Marlon Marín, the nephew of ‘Iván Márquez’, who was coordinating the coca shipments, and the other members of the ex-Farc involved, including ‘Santrich’ and ‘Márquez, now leaders of an armed dissent from the ex-Farc .
Major League Laundering
EL TIEMPO obtained and reveals videos of Marlon Marín speaking about a meeting he held on February 8, 2018, at the ‘Santrich’ house where the Italian was mentioned.
In the trial against Schifano, there were also audios in which one of the FARC emissaries was heard warning the launderer that they were dealing with a dangerous cartel and that they did not want any trouble.
“We are buying 10,000 kilos in Cali. We do not want problems because we work with a very dangerous cartelor. We did a test with the dealer, we bought 5 packages. He arrived in New York, the test was done and everything was fine. People are happy with the merchandise, ”is heard in the audio recorded by federal agents.
To give them more security, Schifano assured them: “I have been doing this (washing silver) for 20 years of my life. During that time I have lacked with the Italians, with the Russians ”.
And he added that he lived in Russia for a long season and that if they required more coca, he had enough available in Puerto Rico, New York and California.
It would provide coverage to move even more funds to Colombia, under the guise of money for the pipeline project.
He even assured that he was willing to take a plane to be in Bogotá the following Monday. According to immigration movements held by federal agents, Schifano was in Colombia at least three times.
EL TIEMPO established that the New Yorker is a founding partner of a company dedicated to the commercialization of iron and coal.
“Based on my training, experience, and participation in this investigation and other cases, I conclude from the tapes that Schifano was reporting that if he were awarded a second contract with the Government, it would provide coverage to move even more funds to Colombia., under the guise of money for the pipeline project, ”Agent Saunders told the judge who sentenced the launderer.
And he added that the person who infiltrated the former Farc members to record them and prove that they were still moving drugs, has been working with the DEA since at least 2008.
He also noted that the information provided by the infiltrator was not only reliable, but was also corroborated with independent evidence, including recordings and other sources of information.
One of the most relevant tests was the dollar bill, which was used as a sign to close the business. One part stayed in Bogotá, and Schifano had a photo of the dollar bill on his cell phone.
The appeal
Some judicial sources assure that Schifano will serve as a witness in the legal case that is followed in the United States to those involved in this case, especially ‘Santrich’, whose extradition was frustrated after a decision of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace ( JEP) and its subsequent escape.
But his lawyer appealed the sentence and recalled that during the trial letters from his children were attached, indicating that he was a good father and that he had gotten himself into this legal mess by mistake. Schifano’s father was also aired with a terminal illness.
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They even assured that the funds that the family has come from the firm that sells iron and coal.
But it is clear to the DEA that ‘Santrich’ and his accomplices went to a lava major league ’launderer to launder money from the coca shipment. So they will insist on bringing them to trial and condemning them.
Now he is a protected witness of the Trump government and remains in an undetermined place with his entire family.
Marlon Marín Marín
Marín, ready to sink his uncle and his benefactor
In recent months, Marlon Marín has been listed before the United States justice. He is ready to sink his uncle, Luciano Marín, alias Iván Márquez, and his benefactor, ‘Jesús Santrich’, within the investigation for drug trafficking and money laundering that follows a federal court.
EL TIEMPO agreed to a video in which Marín told the Prosecutor’s Office (in May 2019) that all the meetings with the Mexican bosses to refine details about the coca shipment were held at the ‘Santrich’ house. And he said that “an Italian” had been designated to receive the payment in Miami, referring to Vincent Schifano.
He added that “Santrichi” said he would get the coca in the south of the country. In addition, that his uncle, ‘Iván Márquez’, promised to send a greeting to the Mexicans so that they knew that the cargo had his blessing.
In this way, Marlon Marín He spoke of the meetings in Venezuela of ár Márquez ’with files from the Nicolás Maduro regime, including Diosdado Cabello, with whom he coordinated coca shipments.
(We recommend: Who’s with Maduro in the U.S. rewards poster?)
That is why it is certain that he is a witness in the process against Nicolás Maduro and 14 of his ‘lieutenants’, accused of drug trafficking and favoring terrorism.
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