A trio of men have been charged in what authorities describe as a multimillion-dollar international bribery racket involving Honduran government contracts for police uniforms, the Justice Department said. Carl Alan Zaglin, a Georgia businessman, along with Francisco Roberto Cosenza Centeno, a former Honduran official, and Aldo Nestor Marchena, of Florida, are facing charges for their roles in the alleged bribery and money laundering operation.
The indictment detailed a scheme that lasted from around March 2015 to November 2019, where the accused purportedly bribed Honduran officials to secure over $10 million in contracts. Made his initial appearance in federal court on Wednesday, Zaglin is the owner of a Georgia-based manufacturer of law enforcement uniforms and accessories. Cosenza was once the Executive Director of a Honduran government entity that purchased goods for the Honduran National Police, and Marchena hails from Boca Raton.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, the three men allegedly used proceeds from these tainted contracts to make illicit payments to officials and laundered the money through the U.S. and Belize. In furtherance of the corrupt scheme, these conspirators sent over $166,000 to bank accounts controlled by Honduran officials.
Charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, Cosenza and Marchena are also slapped with additional counts of money laundering and transactions involving criminally derived property. While Zaglin and Marchena face FCPA violation charges, only Zaglin is also looking at another count of violating the FCPA. If convicted, they could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison for each money laundering offense, as announced by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe and officials from the Department of Justice.
The announcement comes amid a larger push by the Justice Department to combat corruption in Central America. Launched in June 2021, an Anticorruption Task Force aims to address crime in the region, focusing on Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The department encourages individuals to report corrupt activities or ill-gotten monies via email at [email protected] or by calling the HSI Tip Line.
As with all indictments, these are but allegations. The defendants maintain their presumption of innocence until if proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The investigation led by HSI's Miami Office, with contributions from their Atlanta team, puts the accused at the threshold of a legal battle for actions that could redefine their lives and serves as a cautionary tale for those entangled with corruption's reach.
