US Offers $10Mln Reward To Capture Columbia Money Launderer Vargas - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2021) The US government is offering a reward of up to $10 million for the capture of Colombian national Alvaro Pulido Vargas for his involvement in money laundering in a fraud and bribery scheme diverting funds meant for food relief for the people of Venezuela, the Department of State on Friday.

"Today, the Department of State is announcing a reward offer of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Colombian national Alvaro Pulido Vargas," the department said in a news release.

The announcement came as the Department of Justice announced a criminal indictment against Pulido Vargas and others for money laundering in connection with the bribery scheme, the release said.

"Pulido and his co-conspirators allegedly marked-up the cost of producing the boxes of food in order to make a personal profit from their production. From this cost mark-up, the conspirators were able to pay bribes and kickbacks to those Venezuelan government officials who assisted them," the release added.

Pulido Vargas was charged by indictment in October 2021 along with four other individuals. The charges include one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of laundering of monetary instruments, according to the release.