Cartier: used USDT for money laundering from drug trafficking

Maximilien De Hoop Cartier, member of the famous Cartier family, has been charged with money laundering from drug trafficking, using USDT. 

Cartier and the use of USDT to launder money from drug trafficking

Maximilien De Hoop Cartier, descendant of the famous Cartier family known for its French luxury goods, has been charged with money laundering from drug trafficking. 

According to what reported, Cartier and five other Colombian individuals allegedly used the stablecoin Tether (USDT) to successfully launder substantial amounts of money.

This is direct laundering for $14.5 million and hundreds of millions of dollars using shell companies, on behalf of undisclosed third parties. 

Basically, the accusation against the Cartier family member was published by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The deed states that Maximilien De Hoop Cartier and five Colombian citizens have laundered drug trafficking funds using USDT, through a series of shell companies that acted as promoters of an unlicensed OTC cryptocurrency exchange. 

Specifically, Cartier would have used the accounts of Bullpix Solutions LLC, Vintech Capital LLC, VC Innovated Technologies LLC, AZ Technologies LLC, Softmill LLC, and Sun Technologies LLC at financial institutions to act as unlicensed money transfer businesses, falsely claiming to operate in the software and technology sector.

Cartier and money laundering from drug trafficking using the largest stablecoin USDT

The scheme activated by the Cartier network and the five Colombians would have laundered 14.5 million USDT directly derived from the proceeds of the illegal activities mentioned between May 2023 and November 2023. 

However, it seems that Maximilien De Hoop Cartier’s business was actually much larger, encompassing “hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal transactions and laundering hundreds of millions of criminal proceeds” since 2020.

In this regard, Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated:

“The charges filed today demonstrate the commitment of this office to pursue international drug traffickers and penetrate the complex money laundering networks that seek to exploit the US financial system.”

The partnership between Tether and Chanalysis

Recently, Tether has entered into a new partnership with Chainalysis, the renowned blockchain data platform, to develop together a customized solution.

Specifically, the purpose of this collaboration is to create a custom solution to monitor secondary market activities. 

This secondary market includes transactions involving USDT within a broader ecosystem, in addition to direct agreements between Tether and its counterparts. 

In this way, Tether will be able to monitor transactions systematically, having a clearer view of the USDT market.

Specifically, the tool will allow him to identify portfolios that may represent risks or be linked to addresses involved in illegal or sanctioned activities.