DMG executive William Suarez, wanted in the United States on money laundering charges, was handed over to DEA officials in Bogota on Thursday.
The brother-in-law of David Murcia, mastermind of Colombia’s biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, will be flown to New York, where Suarez will defend himself against accusations that he laundered money for drug traffickers.
According to Colombian authorities, DMG was a pyramid scheme that laundered money for local drug lords. Murcia always defended his business as legitimate and claims that he is being persecuted to defend the interests of established Colombian banks.
Murcia was extradited and indicted before a New York federal court last week. The founder and director of DMG pleaded not guilty to the money laundering charges.
Hundreds of thousands of Colombian lost their savings when police shut down all activities of the company late 2008. Most of the money that had been “invested” in the company is still missing.