BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian authorities have arrested a prominent Panama businessman they’re calling the world’s most-wanted money launderer and froze assets belonging to dozens of companies linked to him that were allegedly used to hide millions in illegal drug profits.
The coordinated operation was announced Thursday as the U.S. Treasury Department froze assets belonging to 68 companies in this Central American nation and in Colombia under a drug kingpin designation.
On Friday, Colombian police showed videos taken during the arrest of Nidal Waked, who the U.S. has signaled as the co-leader with his uncle, Abdul Waked, of a money laundering network that stretched across an empire of real estate, financial and retail businesses in 14 Latin American nations.
Nidal Waked, 44, was arrested Wednesday night on a U.S. drug warrant upon arrival to Bogota’s international airport from Panama City. Police said he seemed surprised but was cooperative and explained he had traveled to the Colombian capital on business and with a family member who he was accompanying for a medical appointment. Born in the Colombian city of Barranquilla, he’s being held in Bogota pending a U.S. extradition request.
A statement from U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami described Nidal Waked as one of “the most significant money launderers and drug traffickers in the world.†If convicted, he faces up to 70 years in prison.
The U.S. law enforcement operation has come as a major shock to Panama, which is still reeling from a huge leak of documents known as the Panama Papers detailing how the world’s rich and famous used the Central American nation to hide their wealth. On Friday, the Obama administration announced tougher rules and proposed legislation to prevent wealthy individuals, including politicians, from using offshore shell companies to embezzle money or avoid paying taxes.
Panama’s tradition for financial secrecy and crossroads location along the path of South American cocaine heading to the U.S. has long made it an attractive money-laundering center.
President Juan Carlos Varela, who was in Washington when the sting took place, said he had instructed his finance minister to work with U.S. authorities to protect the jobs of Panamanians affected by the asset freeze. He said Panamanian prosecutors are also investigating and banking regulators taking action so that depositors and capital markets aren’t hurt.
“I want to assure Panamanians that our independent system of justice and regulators are doing their jobs,†Varela said in a statement.