Personal banker pleads guilty to money laundering and bank fraud

A former Wells Fargo personal banker pleaded guilty today to money laundering conspiracy and bank fraud.

FBI agents arrested Leopoldo Lara Aguilera on May 2, 2019, for what they say Aguilera participated in an international money laundering organization based in Tijuana, and operated primarily in San Diego.

According to public records and the plea agreement Aguilera abused his position of trust as a personal banker by opening bank accounts with false identities and wire transferring millions of dollars to Mexico. Aguilera was said to conduct these transactions in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash payments from the criminal organization. The FBI said their investigation linked these funds to the sale of narcotics.

The FBI said Aguilera pleaded guilty to opening 26 bank accounts for the money laundering organization, including 11 that were created by Aguilera using fake identities.

Aguilera was said to use his position to knowingly enter false names, passport numbers, and dates of birth on the fake bank accounts. The bank accounts were allegedly used by the criminal organization to wire transfer a total of $3.8 million to Mexico, and that most of those wire transfers were conducted by Aguilera himself.

Wells Fargo were the ones to identify the fake accounts and brought their findings to the FBI.

Seventeen bank accounts that belonged to the money laundering organization were identified by the FBI and seized, and contained an excess of $230,000.