FBI Busts International Money Laundering Network Linked to Venezuelan Dictator Maduro

The FBI has indicted two men, Arick Komarczyk and Irazmar Carbajal, in connection with an international money laundering scheme tied to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro's children. The investigation, initiated in 2019 by the FBI’s Miami Field Office, revealed that the men opened U.S. bank accounts to transfer illicit funds from Venezuela despite sanctions, with an undercover operation in 2022 exposing their efforts to move $100,000, of which $25,000 entered the U.S. Komarczyk and Carbajal face charges including money laundering and conspiracy to engage in unlicensed money transfers, with Carbajal arrested in the U.S. following deportation from the Dominican Republic while Komarczyk remains in Venezuela. FBI officials, including Director Kash Patel and Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles, condemned the laundering schemes as critical lifelines for Maduro's failing regime and emphasized that the U.S. will not serve as a safe haven for such illicit funds. The U.S. government continues to refuse recognition of Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader and maintains a $50 million bounty for his capture, highlighting ongoing efforts to hold the Maduro regime accountable for corruption and narcoterrorism.