Below is an official statement from the US Department of Justice.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — US District Judge Marcia Morales Howard sentenced Mauricio Chahine (53, Jacksonville) to four years and two months in federal prison for his engagement in money laundering. The court also ordered Chahine to confiscate his proceeds from his money laundering enterprises by $12,000. Chahine pleaded guilty on April 30, 2025.
According to court documents and evidence presented at Chahine’s ruling hearing, confidential sources notified the Drug Enforcement Office that Chahine is a money launderer with the ability to wash funds from the United States to other countries. This information prompted a secret federal agent contacted Chahine and asked her to meet in person. Chahine agreed. At a meeting in March 2024, a pair of undercover agents told Chahine they needed to play the role of cocaine traffickers and help the money move. Without hesitation, Chahine said she needs to know how much money, where it is heading, and how quickly it needs to be at her destination. When one of the agents asked if Chahine knew what they had done, Chahine replied that he didn’t care. The agent then told Chahine that she was selling some of the “white things” that refer to cocaine. Chahine replied that he didn’t want to know. The secret agent explained that for his work he has a large amount of bulk currency in various locations. Chahine reiterated that all he needs to know is where the money was headed and how he wanted it, including “big or small bills,” identifying 12% for more than $200,000 and 15% for less than $200,000.
Chahine suggested that he had been in business since 1999 and promoted his ability to wash money in various states and countries, including Brazil, the Netherlands, Lebanon, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, China, France, Spain, and more. Chahine suggested that she might need to create an invoice to make it look as if she was buying and selling the item. He also explained how he has multiple companies and offered to move the money through his bank account. During the meeting, Chahine said he would not deposit the currency he received at once. Instead, he splits it and deposits the money in increments like $5,000 per day.
A series of meetings were held between Chahine and the additional undercover investigators, during which time Chahine accepted the money to do the laundry. Over the course of the five transactions, Chahine accepted $217,975 in cash and $50,000 in fake currency. He split and deposited money into seven different corporate accounts of various banks before returning to the undercover government accounts in various increments. On various occasions, Chahine asked the undercover investigators to provide him with fake bills to make him appear as if he was engaged in a legitimate business.
Chahine has been in custody since November 12, 2024, and he has been arrested and detained in court as a flight risk.
“Drug traffickers often rely on others to wash out profits from drug operations,” said special agent Ronall Drucker at the IRS Criminal Investigation Tamperfield Office. “The IRS Criminal Investigation continues to devote our financial expertise to identify, investigate and lead to justice to those engaged in sophisticated money laundering techniques that promote drug distribution and concealment of revenue.”
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation and Drug Enforcement Bureau with the assistance of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. US lawyers Kelly S. Million and Michael J. Coolican have been indicted.
This case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-led, multi-agency approach to identify, confuse and dismantle the highest level of criminal organizations that threaten the United States. For additional information about the OCDETF program, please visit www.justice.gov/ocdetf.
