A Framingham man has been clapped in irons and sentenced to a stretch in the federal pen for running a rogue money transmitting operation. Luiz DaSilva, 69, got slapped with 18 months behind bars and a further two years of supervised release after pleading guilty last year, the feds announced. The operation he ran out of Framingham flew under the radar, failing to register with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a must-do to keep the country's financial veins clean of money laundering and other dirty money diseases.
DaSilva's dealings, which took place between 2018 and 2020, moved nearly $5 mil through cash handoffs that were then funneled to bank accounts in the sun-kissed state of Florida, but here's the kicker: he made sure individual transactions never blew past $10,000 to dodge the feds' eagle-eyed reporting requirements, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
This story of a financial fugitive came to a close when DaSilva was collared back in December 2022, putting a pin in a shadowy money-moving scheme that went unnoticed for years. Rubber-stamped by federal law, anyone transferring dough on behalf of Joe Public has to shout it out to FinCEN within six months of hanging their shingle. DaSilva evidently skipped that part, a no-no that eventually had the boys in blue knocking on his door.
The announcement of DaSilva's sentencing was rolled out by Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy; head honcho of the DEA's New England arm, Stephen Belleau; and Framingham's top cop, Police Chief Lester Baker, the case was thrown in front of Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Mulcahy who quarterbacks the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit, they've remained tight-lipped since, their statement a clear-cut end to a not-so-legal business endeavor that had somehow stayed off the grid until feds busted the operation wide open.
