The transcript is an interview with Robert Mazer, a former undercover agent who spent two years infiltrating the Medellin cartel. He worked as a money launderer, dealing with high-level drug traffickers and moving vast amounts of money through various businesses, including an air charter service, a jewelry chain, an investment company, and a mortgage brokerage firm.
Mazer's role was to launder money from drug traffickers into legal funds. He would receive the money in suitcases, duffel bags, or boxes, which would then be layered through various offshore entities and banks to make the money trace difficult.
Mazer's operation was eventually taken down in a multi-agency task force operation, known as Operation Sea Chase. The operation resulted in the arrest of 85 individuals, the collection of fines and forfeitures of about 600 million dollars, and the seizure of about three thousand pounds of cocaine.
Throughout the interview, Mazer emphasizes the importance of understanding the two different sides of banking: the sales side, which brings in the accounts, and the compliance side, which ensures the accounts are not being run by front people. He suggests that account managers should be required to file a sworn statement affirming that they've asked certain key questions to determine if an account is being run by front people.
Mazer also discusses the rise of cryptocurrency as a potential new avenue for money laundering, but notes that unlike cash, the value of cryptocurrencies is not stable. He believes that while cryptocurrency has potential, it is not yet ready for widespread use in the drug world.
After the operation, Mazer retired from undercover work.
1. Robert Mazer spent two years undercover laundering money for Pablo Escobar's cartel .
2. Operation Sea Chase was a multi-agency task force to prosecute the biggest money launderers of the Medellin cartel .
3. Mazer built a persona named Robert Musella to maintain his undercover role .
4. He was involved in a two-year infiltration of the Medellin cartel and the banks supporting them .
5. Mazer dealt with the black money market, operating as a money launderer for drug traffickers .
6. He used a process called layering to confuse the route of money being moved, involving offshore entities .
7. Mazer met with Pablo Escobar's main lawyer, Santiago Uribe, to assess their money laundering processes .
8. He received a call from Gonzalo Mora, a person who met with Pablo Escobar often, informing him that he was likely an undercover agent .
9. Mazer opened up US dollar accounts in Panama, which was easier for the cartel to access .
10. He dealt with lawyers in Switzerland who formed corporations to hide the source of their funds .
11. Mazer was involved in Operation Sea Chase, which resulted in the arrest of about 85 individuals, the collection of fines and forfeitures of about 600 million dollars, and the seizure of about three thousand pounds of cocaine .
12. The United Nations estimates that roughly 400 billion dollars is generated each year from the sale of illegal drugs .
13. Mazer suggests that banks should ask more robust questions on accounts that have five million dollars or more received in a year .
14. He proposes the creation of a joint money laundering task force similar to the joint terrorism task force run by the FBI .