Colombia’s former tax chief Carlos Espinoza on Wednesday denied accusations of helping David Murcia, head of pyramid scheme DMG, to launder money, claiming he was working undercover for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
David Murcia, the director of the scheme, pleaded guilty Wednesday in New York to charges of money laundering. His lawyer, Robert Abreu, said that Murcia received the help of the former director of the Colombian tax office to buy property in Miami. The attorney said he and Murcia are angry that Espinoza is not also on trial.
Espinoza said Abreu is correct in saying that he helped raise money for the pyramid scheme, but that his work was in collaboration with the DEA and did not receive anything in return for his help. He added that he has all documents that prove he was working for the U.S. agency “in case someone suffers from memory loss.”
DMG was dismantled in 2008 after accusations that the company was a pyramid scheme and was laundering money for drug trafficking organizations. When he was in Colombia Murcia repeatedly asked to be extradited saying he would not receive a fair trial in his home country.