Facts:
Marcial Dorado is a famous drug trafficker of Country S sentenced by a Court in 2009 to 10 years of imprisonment. Since the late eighties to early nineties, he established numerous companies in tax havens, and opened many accounts in Country SW to conceal the assets acquired through cigarette smuggling, trafficking drugs and other illicit business. Since the late nineties Dorado created a network of companies and enterprises lending money among themselves to be reinvested afterwards in the purchase of real estate or in opening legitimate businesses. The objective of these operation was to disguise the real origin of the money.
Dorado had almost 20 bank account in Country S, Country P, Country SW and in Country B, and more than 17 million Swiss francs were transferred from Country SW to Country S justified as loan agreements.
The main issue:
The legal or illegal origin of Dorado’s fortune was discussed before the National High Court, but the 2009 Judgement condemning Dorado for drug trafficking helped to determine the illegal origin of his money and property. It was also discussed whether the network of companies Dorado built, had any utility by itself or were set up just to launder the benefits of drug trafficking.
Procedure:
In 2004, following a suspicious transaction report from a bank, the Court of Country SW began investigating Dorado for money laundering and, due to his closer link with Country S, judicial proceedings were delegated to the courts of Country S.
Dorado claimed during the trial that he had made his fortune by selling tobacco (both as a smuggler, when this activity was not a crime, and as commission agent of a multinational company) and legal businesses, denying his link with drug trafficking.
The prosecutor also accused Dorado of the offence against the Treasury and disclosure of secrets, but finally the Court did not find him liable of these crimes.
Outcome:
The Court considered proven that Dorado led an organization dedicated to launder money from drug trafficking, and imposed on him the maximum penalty provided by law since the aggravating circumstance of leadership was applicable. Dorado was condemned to six years of imprisonment and fined with 21.5 million euros.
The Court also ordered the confiscation of around 200 properties and assets, and two million euros that were deposited in the nearly 20 bank accounts Dorado had in different countries. In total, the value of the assets seized amounted to about 23 million euros. This figure corresponds, with the estimation made by the prosecutor of the total that would have been laundered by Dorado.
