The indictments, handed down in Florida on September 25, followed a years-long investigation led by the FBI’s Miami Field Office that began in 2019. Agents reportedly uncovered evidence that Arick Komarczyk had opened US bank accounts for Maduro’s family members and other associates living in the US Suspicious Activity Reports showed Komarczyk received multiple wire transfers from Venezuelan individuals and businesses, according to the FBI.
A 2022 undercover sting deepened the case when Komarczyk and his alleged partner, Irazmar Carbajal, agreed to move $100,000 in what they believed were sanctioned Venezuelan government funds.
Agents said the men successfully moved about $25,000 into the United States before being caught. When questioned, Komarczyk allegedly brushed off the concerns, calling it “sexy business.”
FBI Director Kash Patel described the Maduro-linked money operations as “criminal lifelines” that keep the Venezuelan regime afloat.
“Nicolás Maduro is not just another corrupt strongman,” Patel said in a statement to Fox News.
“He is an indicted narcoterrorist dictator with a $50 million bounty on his head. His regime’s laundering schemes are nothing more than criminal lifelines for a failing dictatorship, and under my leadership, this FBI will continue to choke off every dollar, every account, and every enabler.”
Komarczyk faces charges of money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, while Carbajal was charged with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed transmitting business, Fox News reported. According to the FBI, Carbajal was detained after traveling from Uruguay to the Dominican Republic. When his deportation flight made a stop in the US on October 2, federal agents arrested him. Komarczyk remains at large and is believed to be living in Venezuela.
“The Maduro regime’s alleged efforts to conduct money laundering in the United States through third-party individuals will not go unchecked,” said FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles. “These indictments show our commitment to investigating international money laundering involving sanctioned governments and individuals. The United States will never be a safe haven for corruption.”
The US government does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and continues to offer a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
