Emmanuel Garcia Sold BTC on LocalBitcoins and Ended up Convicted of Money Laundering in Argentina. García got involved, according to him involuntarily, in a money-laundering operation the event is part of the case called White Coils which dates from 2017
Emmanuel García received a sentence of 5 years in jail; he also will pay a fine for the “White Coils” case. Yesterday, September 9, the Oral Court of Bahía Blanca found him guilty of the crime of money- laundering, and drugs, through bitcoin (BTC).
In the case, six other defendants, both Argentine and Mexican, also received convictions. Until 2017, García acted as a BTC merchant and expanded his services on the peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins.
The project operated with the first cryptocurrency, and its modality was cash dealing without bank accounts. The cash deal is the most common activity when it comes to the informal trading of crypto assets. The operator did not require any identification or proof of origin of funds from its counterparts.
Emmanuelle Garcia and his activities as an informal bitcoin broker came to an end in July 2017. The Superintendency of Dangerous Drugs, in compliance with an order from federal judge Adrián González Charvay entered his home and seized USD 160,000 in cash in the legal operation.
Since then and until his recent conviction, García was on trial as a participant in the aforementioned “White Coils” case. In June 2017, 1,862 kilograms of cocaine got seized in steel coils, in a warehouse in Bahía Blanca, in the southern area of Buenos Aires.
An International Drug Trafficking Organization
For the prosecutor in the case, Gabriel González da Silva, García would not have acted as an asset to the criminal gang, but rather his actions were already an active part of the criminal group.
According to the text of the accusation which got reproduced by the local press, García, from an uncertain date, carried out criminal actions like placing money in the financial market belonging to the criminal organization.
The accusation adds that these actions happened so that these funds would disappear from the legal eyes and eventually enter the financial system with an illicit appearance.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina released a statement mentioning that it is the first time that money-laundering through BTC, takes effect in that South American nation.
A Connection between Garcia and the Criminal Group
According to a publication of the Argentine Journal of Criminal Law, signed by the specialist Manuel Santos, there was a connection between García and the drug traffickers. The traffickers needed to put illicit earnings in dollars to Argentina without unleashing alerts in the systems.
Regarding the now condemned, the explanation he always provided was that he was simply a P2P merchant. In 2018 Emmanuelle was present on the YouTube channel No Soy Satoshi; No soy Satoshi is a show led by members of the Argentine bitcoin community.
Emmanuelle García said that, during the raid, 133 policemen broke into his home; the procedure was very violent. He assures that he was always collaborative with justice.
Garcia told the whole truth in the investigative procedures, and he explained in detail how he carried out the bitcoin acquisitions and other sale operations.
By: Jenson Nuñez
