2 Israelis Sentenced for Money-Laundering Plan

Two Israelis were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that they operated a scheme to launder more than $1 million in illegal narcotics profits.

Avraham Zarchia, 38, and Izhak Edri, of North Hollywood, each had faced a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison and fines of $1.25 million.

A third defendant, Rivka Edri, Izhak’s wife, pleaded guilty in February and has been sentenced to five years probation.

The ring allegedly laundered as much as $22 million in five months last year by shipping cashiers’ checks to a Panamanian financial institution linked to a Colombian drug organization, Assistant U.S. Atty. Bonnie S. Klapper said.

The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts, who in February accepted the trio’s guilty pleas to charges of illegal movement of cash inside and out of the United States.

Rivka Edri was shown leniency because she has four children, according to her attorney, Stanley Greenberg.

On Probation in U.S.

Under her sentence, Rivka Edri may remain on probation in the United States while her children finish the academic year. After that, she must leave the United States. Greenberg said she will return to Israel.

The defendants admitted participating in a ring that moved large volumes of cashier’s checks made out in amounts under $10,000 to avoid government reporting requirements.

Banks are required to report cash transactions of $10,000 or more to the Internal Revenue Service.

The law also prohibits structuring of transactions to avoid the reporting requirements, such as transfers of big sums through a series of smaller transactions. The law is designed to curb money laundering and other activities involving concealment of funds from government scrutiny, Klapper said.

Prosecutors alleged that the ring attempted to send dozens of checks--each less than $10,000--totaling $1,271,510, via courier services to Panama within a five-day period.