The wife of Ponzi scheme scam artist David Murcia has been charged with illegal enrichment and money laundering.
Prosecutors claim Johana Ibeth Leon Surarez had an active role in her husband’s company DMG, a pyramid scheme which cheated 200,000 Colombians out of their savings and was used to launder drug money.
According to authorities, Leon Bermudez owned 41% of DMG and participated in her husband’s construction projects that were used as a front for money laundering.
She will be tried in her absence as she is currently in Uruguay living as a political refugee.
After the DMG pyramid scheme collapsed in 2008, David Murcia was found guilty of illicit enrichment and money laundering and sentenced to 30 years in jail.
He was extradited to the US in January 2010 where he received an additional nine year sentence on money laundering charges.