Grand Jury Accuses Six of Laundering Money From Drugs

A federal grand jury here has charged six people--including an 80-year-old grandmother and a Bank of America customer investment officer--with concealing $36 million in suspected narcotics proceeds through the use of area financial institutions, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

The 20-count indictment is the latest result of a continuing crackdown by federal law enforcement officials nationwide on narcotics traffickers through investigations of sophisticated “money-laundering” schemes.

The indictment alleges that between May, 1985, and February, 1986, the six suspects laundered $36 million in suspected drug money through two area banks and a money exchange firm in San Ysidro.

The indictment charges that the suspects received the funds from unnamed individuals at pre-designated points in San Diego and Orange counties and exchanged much of the money for checks at Blue House Financial Inc., a San Ysidro currency exchange. The funds then were deposited in various accounts at Bank of America’s Coronado branch and the California Commerce Bank in San Diego, the indictment said.

Many of the checks written on the various accounts were negotiated in Colombia and Panama, the indictment said.

Federal authorities said the financial institutions cooperated in the investigation, and no wrongdoing has been alleged against them.

In return for their efforts, the indictment alleges that the defendants received a commission of 5%, or about $1.8 million of the $36-million total.

The indictment charges that five of the suspects bribed Guillermina Watson, a customer investment officer at Bank of America’s Coronado branch. Watson, 55, a Chilean-born naturalized citizen and a 25-year employee of Bank of America, allegedly helped to facilitate various transactions by the other suspects. She has been suspended from her bank duties pending resolution of the charges, a bank spokesman said.

Prime Tool

All six suspects, including Watson, are charged with various violations of currency reporting statutes, conspiracy, and causing financial institutions to file false currency transaction reports.

The reports, required by the Bank Secrecy Act for currency transactions of more than $10,000, are the U.S. government’s prime tool in cracking alleged money-laundering schemes.

On Monday, pleas of innocent were entered in U.S. District Court in San Diego by Watson and two other suspects, Marguerite de Coninck, an 80-year-old Belgian citizen, and her daughter, Beatriz Mejia-Coninck, 44, a Colombian citizen who was living legally in California. Watson is free on $100,000 bond, while Marguerite Coninck and her daughter are being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego.

One other suspect, Pablo Galindo-Cabrer, of Las Vegas, is also in federal custody but has yet to enter a plea. He is the former husband of Beatriz Mejia-Coninck, officials said.

2 Are Fugitives

Two other suspects are fugitives.

The fugitives include Cecilia Mejia-Rojo, 45, a Colombian citizen who is believed to have returned to Colombia. She is the sister of Beatriz Mejia-Coninck. Also a fugitive is Christian Galindo, 23, a Colombian citizen and son of Beatriz Mejia-Coninck and Pablo Galindo-Cabrer.