Anyway, back to our story. Drug profits were to be used to purchase an aircraft from a legitimate seller located in the southeastern US. As such, a cashier's cheque, or the functional equivalent, would be needed to consummate the purchase. Fortunately, I had funds offshore in another client's account, and he needed to bring some cash into the US, so I was able to execute  what I call the swap. 

The swap is an exchange between a criminal entity with funds offshore, that needs some or all of them in hand in the US, and another group with cash here, who wants its offshore. if the money launderer has access, or signature authority, over offshore client funds, he can easily effectuate such an arrangement, operating much like a financial institution, albeit for illegal purposes. It went like this:  

• I traveled to a Caribbean tax haven and obtained a New York draft (a cheque drawn by an offshore bank upon its NY correspondent account) payable to the aircraft's seller, so that the first client could close on the purchase. 
• Next, I took the onshore funds delivered to me from that client, and passed them on to the second client, from whose offshore account I had withdrawn funds for that cashier's cheque.
• The first client sent the aircraft to Jamaica, and I thought the matter was complete. What I did not know (but found out later) was that the aircraft's seller waited five days until the cheque cleared, claiming that it was not strictly a cashier's cheque. I did note that the client sent me in a payment for my services that was slightly less than I had requested.

Years later, after I was arrested and in Federal custody, US Customs agents badgered me about an aircraft that they believed that I owned, which was engaged in smuggling operations. It turned out that the short of stature, unhappy with the fact that he had to wait until the cheque cleared before taking possession of the aircraft, had titled the plane in my name.  

The aircraft, loaded with marijuana near Negril, was violently blocked from taking off by a Jamaican organisation that had not been paid protection money. The mob burned the aircraft, with the pilot still inside. This was the aircraft that Customs agents were asking me about; imagine how I felt when I heard the entire story from the agents.

After I bonded out through pre-trial release, I confronted the organisation's second-in-command about the aircraft title matter, and he very matter of factly told me that his boss had done that because of the delay in clearing funds. This will give you some idea of what criminal clients sometimes do to their advisors, when they are unhappy.

There is no honour amongst thieves. Remember, I spent years protecting criminal clients, and refused to testify against them, only to have three of them present evidence against me when they got in trouble. That is how I was later indicted.

Next Week: the money laundering goes on, but the heat is turned up.