US-based Karimnagar man jailed for money-laundering

Hyderabad: Ravinder Reddy Gudipati of Karimnagar, who settled almost four decades ago in the US and played a key role in circulating drug mafia money, was convicted by a federal jury in Laredo, Texas, in a multi-million dollar money laundering scam along with five others. Money derived from the sale of drugs in the US were laundered through businesses in Laredo in order to return it to Mexican drug dealers.

Ravinder Reddy is said to be a close relative of a former TRS minister who lost in the recent state election. A source said the Ravinder Reddy and wife Aruna Gudipati had invested in the real estate business owned by the TRS leader.

Some of the investments are in Hyderabad. The family stayed in Nutley, New Jersey. Ravinder Reddy and two other Indian-Americans were among six people convicted for their role in the scheme, the US justice department said. Ravinder Reddy, 61; Harsh Jaggi, 54 and Neeru Jaggi, 51, all from Laredo, Texas, were convicted of a money-laundering conspiracy following a five-week jury trial.

Along with the Indian-American trio, Adrian Arciniega-Hernandez, 36, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; Adriana Alejandra Galvan-Constantini, 36 and Luis Montes-Patino, 57, both from Irving, Texas, were convicted, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the justice department’s criminal division said.

The prosecution charged Ravinder Reddy, owner of a chain of perfume stores called NYSA Impex LLC, and Harsh and Neeru Jaggi, owners of El Reino International Inc, with acceptance of loose bulk-cash, even after being told it was drug money. According to the evidence presented at the trial, from 2011 through 2013, Galvan-Constantini, Montes-Patino and other co-conspirators helped to move millions of dollars derived from the sale of drugs throughout the US, including New York, Kentucky, North Carolina, Illinois, Mississippi and multiple cities in Texas to Laredo, Texas.

The US currency was moved by couriers, including Galvan-Constantini and Montes-Patino, via cars, commercial buses, commercial planes and a private plane in bulk, hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time.  The money, in heat-sealed packs, uneven stacks bound by rubber bands, or loose US currency, arrived in plastic bags, cloth bags, suitcases, backpacks and even cereal boxes.

The money was then distributed among downtown Laredo, Texas perfume stores, including El Reino International Inc of Jaggis. and NYSA Impex LLC of Ravinder Reddy.

The store owners failed to file Form 8300s which was required when more than $10,000 in cash is received by a business or filed Form 8300s which omitted pertinent information such as the name of the courier who brought the bulk cash. 

Ravinder Reddy was convicted of two counts of money laundering, two counts of causing a trade or business to fail to file a Form 8300, and one count of causing a trade or business to file a Form 8300 containing a material omission and misstatement of facts. In addition, Harsh Jaggi and Adrian Arcinieg-Hernandez were each convicted of two counts of money laundering and Neeru Jaggi was convicted of one count of money laundering.