Heir to Cartier Apprehended for Laundering Money Using USDT

The United States Justice Department (DoJ) has made a significant arrest, charging Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, an heir to the Cartier jewelry empire, with conspiring to launder proceeds from drug trafficking using the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, Tether (USDT).

Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, a direct descendant of Louis Cartier, the founder of the luxury jewelry brand, was arrested in Miami, where he allegedly coordinated with a Colombian drug cartel.

Alongside five Colombian nationals, Cartier attempted to import 100 kilos of cocaine and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly through over-the-counter (OTC) USDT trades. The group successfully laundered 14.5 million USDT before their arrests.

Currently held in a Miami detention center, Cartier’s co-conspirators are detained in Colombian jails. The scheme involved Cartier controlling shell companies and misrepresenting to financial institutions that they were engaged in software and technology businesses. According to the indictment, he then utilized the companies’ accounts as unlicensed money transmitters.

Using USDT, dollars, pesos, and other currencies, Cartier allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of dollars derived from criminal activities. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams highlighted the DOJ’s commitment to crackdown on money laundering schemes, while adding:

“As alleged, Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, Leonardo de Jesus Zuluage Duque, Erica Milena Lopez Ortiz, and Felipe Estrada Echeverry were members of a network that laundered millions of dollars’ worth of drug trafficking proceeds using cryptocurrency and the U.S. financial system.”

Despite spending most of his life in France, Cartier holds Argentine citizenship. He faces four counts of criminal misconduct, including money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, transacting in property derived from specified unlawful activity, and operating an unlicensed money remitter.