These defendants are involved in a large-scale money laundering case that initially encompassed 23 people. The case reached the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Granada last June, where plea bargains were explored. Now, the trial has been set for these three defendants.
Two of the individuals also face charges in a Santa Fe court for their alleged membership in a criminal organization dedicated to the cultivation and trafficking of marijuana, illegal possession of weapons, and a minor offense of electricity fraud.
The defendants' lack of sufficient legal income to justify their assets reinforces the Prosecutor's thesis regarding the existence of various operations aimed at laundering money obtained from drug sales.
Among the identified money laundering strategies were the acquisition of homes and vehicles, investments in property renovations, and the payment of mortgage loans, according to the provisional indictment from the Prosecutor's Office, accessed by Europa Press.
Another method involved registering assets under the names of third parties, using straw men to conceal the true origin of the money. The Prosecutor's Office maintains that all defendants acted as straw men for the organization's leader, who has already been tried, and was the true owner of the assets.
These laundering practices were facilitated by the close family and personal relationships among the 23 people initially involved in the large-scale case, who mostly formed a family clan or were connected by neighborhood or friendship ties.
The trial against these three remaining defendants is scheduled for the end of the month in the Second Section. The Prosecutor's Office is seeking prison sentences of between four and five years for them, in addition to fines ranging from 50,000 to one million euros.
