CONFESSIONS OF A
MONEY LAUNDERER by Kenneth Rijock
Financial Crime Consultant, for World-Check
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 26
2 April 2007

I traveled that evening to another Florida city, for though the Federal judge who presided over that particular matter held court in the city where I had declined to testify, his permanent chambers were in the state capitol. He only traveled the circuit to the other cities in the district for certain scheduled hearings and trials, and the hearing upon my refusal to testify was an unforeseen event. Having appeared in court hundreds of times as counsel, I was familiar with the procedure, but even lawyers are under a certain amount of stress when they are scheduled to testify themselves. It is more suspenseful when one is looking at potential jail time for failure to obey what are lawful orders of a court of competent jurisdiction. In short, if I wilfully disobeyed a United States District Judge, I could be incarcerated on the spot. This was therefore not a routine court appearance for me, as my freedom depended upon the outcome of a short hearing.

First, my lawyer and I spent several hours in the law library at the Florida Supreme Court, researching all possible favourable authorities that could be used to buttress the legal objections I had interposed to decline to testify (bogus as they were under then-current case law). It was curious that the only time I was ever in the highest court in the state was to find federal court decisions in my own criminal proceeding, and that this fact didn't bother me in the least. Perhaps this shows how I had strayed so far from the straight and narrow line that lawyers, as officers of the court, must walk.   

 I was sworn in, not a particularly pleasant thing for a person involved in criminal conduct, and who knows the penalty for perjury. First off, the prosecutor asked me whether I was a money launderer for my clients. This resulted in my instant denial, my lawyer's objection, and  the usual ensuing argument between counsel over procedure.  

The bottom line; I advised the court that I was not in possession of any corporate documents (they were kept offshore for this exact reason). The case presented the US Attorney with two options;

  • He could grant me immunity (meaning I could never be charged with the crimes that I freely testified to), and then I would therefore be compelled by law to testify against my clients ( something I did not want to do), or risk a prison sentence of several months for contempt of court.
  • He could excuse me from further testimony before the Grand Jury, hoping to indict me later, of course provided that he assembled sufficient evidence against me to prevail at trial. He chose the latter, meaning he was gambling that later he could present sufficient proof before the Grand Jury to charge me, based upon evidence obtained in the ongoing investigation. Usually, higher-ranking targets are not immunised, only lower level members of an organisation, because the US Attorney's office wants to roll over the smaller fish on the kingpins. I was no kingpin, but they thought my involvement was sufficiently prominent that they weren't going to give me a pass on prison, just to get at other major targets. I was not going to walk away from this unscathed.

Although I went into that proceeding knowing that it might very well result in my spending time locked up for non-cooperation after receiving immunity, it ended well for me, with my being excused from participation at that time in the Grand Jury sessions. I was never called back, which I accurately interpreted as a sign that it was going to get ugly later on.

Returning home, I wondered how anxious my clients were about the sum and substance of my Grand Jury appearance. They had sent an emissary to see me just prior to my trip north, the old friend and former roommate who had introduced me to this life years prior. I was a pretty stubborn advocate in those days, and did not ever consider testifying against clients, and told him so in no uncertain terms. He was to be one of the few who were neither indicted, nor cooperated in exchange for immunity, which was the luck of the draw, as casualties in the war on drugs were many.

The gloves were off now; the government had clearly targeted me and my clients, and it was clear that they had collected  some important and damaging evidence against both myself and my narco-clients. Things would now start of heat up.

Next week: Notwithstanding government heat, the beat goes on; how does one launder money when one is under the microscope. 

The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.

Read more in this exciting series

Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 96
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 95
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 94
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 93
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 92
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 91
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part Ninety
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 89
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 88
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 87
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 86
New chapter out Tonight
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 85
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 84
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 83
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 82
Confessions is on holiday until 5 January, but read earlier chapters here
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 81
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 80
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 79
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 78
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 77
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 76
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 75
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 74
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 73
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 72
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 71
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 70
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 69
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 68
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 67
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 66
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 65
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 64
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 63
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 62
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 61
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 60
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 59
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 58
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 57
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 56
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 55
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 54
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 53
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 52
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 51
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 50
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 49
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 48
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 47
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 46
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 45
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 44
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 43
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 42
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 41
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 40
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 39
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 38
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 37
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 36
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 35
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 34
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 33
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 32
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 31
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 30
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 29
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 28
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 27
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 26
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 25
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 24
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 23
Confessions of a Money Launderer - part 22
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 21
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 20
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 19
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 18
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 17
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 16
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 15
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 14
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 13
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 12
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 11
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 10
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 9
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 8
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 7
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 6
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 5
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 4
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 3
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 2
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 1
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