Cartier Jewelry Family Heir Charged with Money Laundering for Colombian Cartel

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Maximilian de Hoop Cartier, a descendant of Louis Cartier, was arrested in Miami on money laundering charges, allegedly collaborating with a Colombian drug cartel.

Together with 5 Colombian nationals, Cartier attempted to import 100 kg of cocaine and launder hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly through over-the-counter (OTC) transactions with crypto stablecoin Tether. Before being arrested, they successfully laundered $14.5 million USDT. While Cartier is detained in Miami, his associates are in Colombian prisons.

Maximilien de Hoop Cartier

Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, Leonardo de Jesus Zuluage Duque, Erica Milena Lopez Ortiz, and Felipe Estrada Echeverry were members of a network that laundered millions of dollars worth of drug trafficking proceeds using cryptocurrency and the U.S. financial system.

Cartier is additionally alleged to have committed a series of financial offenses while working with this money laundering network that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unlawful transactions. Cartier, who purports to be a direct descendant of the Cartier family known for luxury jewelry, was arrested on February 22, 2024, in Miami, Florida.

“Today’s announcement serves as a reminder that criminals do not fit a certain mold. While Maximilien de Hoop Cartier represents himself as a member of a family associated with wealth and luxury, he stands accused of executing a bank fraud scheme where hundreds of millions in criminal funds were laundered. Both here and in Colombia, he and his co-conspirators allegedly laundered drug-trafficking proceeds to the tune of over $14 million.

Money Laundering Network

To carry out this plan, Cartier controlled shell companies, misrepresenting them to financial institutions as software and technology companies. He used these accounts as unlicensed money brokers, making transactions in USDT, dollars, pesos, and other currencies, laundering hundreds of millions from criminal activity.

Between or about May 2023 and November 2023, those charged used this network to launder a total of approximately $14.5 million Tether derived directly from the proceeds of drug trafficking. 

In particular, Leonardo "Rey" de Jesus Zuluaga Duque, with the assistance of Erica Milena Lopez Ortiz, coordinated and communicated with other members of the network to convert drug proceeds into Tether to be sent to the U.S. where it was converted into fiat currency by Cartier and delivered by wire transfers from the U.S. to shell companies in Colombia that were operated or maintained by Felipe "Pepe" Estrada Echeverry and others.

Cartier has been a member of the Network since at least about January 2020. As part of his role in the Network, Cartier operated an unlicensed over-the-counter cryptocurrency exchange. Specifically, Cartier operated and/or controlled several U.S.-based shell companies, including:

Bullpix Solutions LLC

Vintech Capital LLC

VC Innovated Technologies LLC

AZ Technologies LLC

Softmill LLC

Sun Technologies LLC

The corporation for his music career, MC Entertainment LLC, is not listed in the indictment.

Several bank accounts tied to the companies were also opened. In opening these bank accounts, Cartier misrepresented the true nature of the business of the Cartier Shell Companies i.e., Cartier claimed to the banks that the Cartier Shell Companies were in the business of software or technology when, in fact, Cartier was using the companies to operate as an unlicensed money remitting business related to the operation of a cryptocurrency exchange. 

From January 2020 to the present, Cartier's unlicensed money-transmitting business executed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unlawful transactions and laundered hundreds of millions in criminal proceeds, including drug trafficking proceeds with Zuluaga Duque, Lopez Ortiz, and Estrada Echeverry between about May and November 2023.

Tether Coin

USDT is uniquely suited to money laundering. It substitutes directly for dollars yet, unlike bank transfers, may be sent permissionlessly to anyone using 16 blockchains within seconds. For drug cartels accustomed to risky cash deliveries and unreliable bank wires, USDT’s nearly instant and irreversible settlement is a welcome upgrade. USDT has become a popular payment method for criminal gangs, particularly those in the gambling industry, operating in Southeast Asia.

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other more popular crypto-currencies. Tether is tied directly to the US Dollar 1:1 so variances in exchange rates and value are virtually non-existent. For its part, Tether’s parent company publishes repeated assurances that it is working to reduce criminal use of USDT.

Colombian Cocaine Traffickers

In addition, the Superseding Indictment charges Zuluaga Duque, Lopez Ortiz, Alexander Areiza Ceballos, and Adrian Areiza Ceballos with conspiring to import more than 100 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. All are Colombian nationals, and were taken into custody by Colombian authorities on April 30, 2024.

Specifically, in about November 2023, confidential sources, at the direction of law enforcement, coordinated with Lopez Ortiz and Alexander Areiza Ceballos for the purchase of approximately 9 kilograms of cocaine paste, which was to be manufactured into cocaine before being delivered to New York.

For that purchase, Alexander Areiza Ceballos delivered the narcotics to an undercover officer and Zuluaga Duque received a commission for helping to set up the deal.

Additionally, in about February 2024, a confidential source, at the direction of law enforcement, arranged for the purchase of approximately 100 kilograms of cocaine paste from Alexander Areiza Ceballos and Adrian Areiza Ceballos. In anticipation of this deal, the Colombian National Police executed two search warrants and recovered approximately 111 kilograms of cocaine paste.

Zuluaga Duque, 61, a Colombian citizen, is charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiring to import 5 kilograms or more of cocaine into the U.S., which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Lopez Ortiz, 42, a Colombian citizen, is charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiring to import 5 kilograms or more of cocaine into the U.S., which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Estrada Echeverry, 38, a Colombian citizen, is charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Alexander Areiza Ceballos, 45, a Colombian citizen, is charged with one count of conspiring to import 5 kilograms or more of cocaine into the U.S., which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Adrian Areiza Ceballos, 44, a Colombian citizen, is charged with one count of conspiring to import 5 kilograms or more of cocaine into the U.S., which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Cartier is also charged with money laundering, bank fraud, engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from bank fraud, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business based on Cartier's system of U.S.-based shell companies and bank accounts that he used to operate an unlicensed over-the-counter cryptocurrency exchange.

Max Cartier is an Argentinian citizen who has resided in France, and is charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of money laundering, which a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of bank fraud, which a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and one count of operating of an unlicensed money remitting business, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Who is Maximilien de Hoop Cartier?

His mother, Sarah Cartier, is a direct descendant of the Cartier family of jewelers in France. His father, Daniel de Hoop, is a retired member of the Royal Family of the House of Orange in the Netherlands. He was educated in Argentina, Switzerland, and London.

Maximilien Cartier owned a wine, beer, and bottled water company, Patagonia.

According to his French Wikipedia page; he began producing wines, champagne, and cognac in the Bordeaux area of ​​France. Cartier registered its own brands worldwide and began using its Patagonia trademark to produce and import premium wines and beers from Argentina and Chile to Europe, including Quilmes, the leading brand in Argentina's market. He has also opened a foundation "De Hoop Cartier" in Geneva, Switzerland, to help promote health care and education in Latin America and Switzerland.

In 1998, war broke out in the former Yugoslav republic of Kosovo, and Cartier lost all contact with his personal friend, Mr. Ramush Haradinaj. He subsequently discovered that Haradinaj had returned to his native country and taken control of an army of 10,000 rebel warriors.

Cartier traveled to the region to see if he could help in any way. Haradinaj explained that food and drinking water were scarce. Eager to be of assistance, Cartier traveled to nearby Greece, where he rented a warehouse in the port city of Thessaloniki. From there, he sent trucks with food, water, and basic supplies. In recognition of his personal sacrifice, Cartier received a necklace of pure solid gold, in the shape of a two-headed eagle that had the initials UCK (symbol and initials of the Kosovo Liberation Army.)

After the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he pursued a musical career and recorded a big band style album at Capital Studios in Hollywood in 2022. The recordings featured a 50-member band and he used one of Frank Sinatra's microphones to record.

According to his music website, "Max Cartier was born into a European family in Buenos Aires, at the crossroads of many cultural influences. Exploring the riches of both Latin American and European cultures and constantly surrounded by music and fine art, he was on a quest for beauty from the start."

Cartier Family History

Jeweler Louis Francis Cartier founded the luxury brand in Paris in 1847. Since Cartier was founded in Paris in 1847, it has become one of the best-known and well-regarded jewelry and watch brands in the world. 

Pierre Cartier once owned the famed "Hope Diamond" a 45 Karat blue diamond necklace. He sold the piece in 1911 for the modern-day equivalent of $9 million.

Pierre Cartier

The Cartier brand was family-owned until 1964, when grandson Pierre passed away and his heirs decided to sell the business.

According to Forbes, the brand was valued at $12.2 billion in 2020, up from $7.8 billion in 2017, under the stewardship of CEO Cyrille Vigneron.

A Cartier timepiece, bracelet, necklace, or ring is an automatic sign of quiet luxury, as most items are priced in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands. A Cartier watch can cost up to $300,000. Cartier is also a favorite of royals, celebrities, and business power players alike.

Meghan Markle is frequently spotted wearing a Tank Française watch.

According to Cartier's website regarding their ethical standards in the jewelry industry, they state.

Since 1847, the Cartier Maison has embodied a tradition of excellence. A tradition which has become our duty. This duty of excellence in our creations, savoir-faire, and quality of service also extends to the way we conduct our activities – ethically, socially, and environmentally.

 Money laundering and corruption are listed as intolerable.

Act Ethically: Business Ethics

• We will not tolerate any kind of corruption or money laundering.

Sources DOJ, Cartier, Business Insider, Protos, Wikipedia