A family business that took "keeping it in the family" to criminal extremes has landed three relatives in federal hot water, with prosecutors alleging they turned widget imports into a $24 million gold smuggling operation that would make even the most creative accountant blush.
Meet the Hernandez clan: Beatriz Eugenia Hernandez, 57, her son Carlos Mathias Gonzalez, 26, and her brother Esteban Hernandez, 47. This week, they found themselves on the wrong end of a federal indictment in Miami, accused of running what according to the Department of Justice was an elaborate transnational scheme that operated from December 2018 to May 2022.
Their alleged method? Pretty ingenious, if you're into that sort of thing. The family supposedly received shipments from Colombia that were supposed to contain "metal widgets"—except half these packages had a golden surprise inside. Literally. Gold cylinders were allegedly hidden within the widgets and painted over like some kind of precious metals Easter egg hunt gone wrong.
The Art of the (Illegal) Deal
Once the family extracted their shiny contraband, CBS12 reports they'd sell the gold through two U.S. corporate entities, then play an elaborate shell game with the proceeds. Money would dance between bank accounts before ultimately waltzing its way back to Colombian company accounts—a financial choreography that moved approximately $24,628,943 over nearly four years.
Federal investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, with backup from Customs and Border Protection, apparently weren't impressed by this economic sleight of hand. The result? Three family members now facing the music in federal court.
South Florida's Golden Problem
If this story sounds familiar, that's because South Florida has become something of a hotspot for precious metals schemes. It's like the region has a magnetic attraction to gold smugglers—and not in a good way.
Take the 2018 case of Elemetal LLC, a Dallas-based gold refinery that pleaded guilty according to the Justice Department to failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering programs. They ended up forfeiting $15 million after it turned out they'd been purchasing and refining billions of dollars worth of gold from around the world—much of it with questionable origins and even more questionable paperwork.
Then there's Jesus Gabriel Rodriguez Jr., the former CEO of Transvalue, who learned the hard way that running an armored transport company doesn't automatically make your gold smuggling operation bulletproof. Federal authorities say his $140 million operation involved flying thousands of kilograms of sketchy gold from Curacao while playing customs document origami to make it look like it came from the Cayman Islands instead.
And let's not forget the Ladins—Natalie and Jed—whose jewelry business made some truly creative import declarations. Prosecutors alleged they declared Guatemalan scrap gold imports at about $6 million while somehow needing to wire over $24 million to Guatemala for those same imports. Either they're really bad at math, or something else was going on.
Colombia's Golden Opportunity (For Criminals)
The appeal of Colombian gold for criminal enterprises isn't exactly a mystery. According to Global Financial Integrity, organized crime groups and illegal armed groups have turned gold mining into a funding mechanism for everything from drug trafficking to extortion—basically, it's become the criminal world's version of a diversified investment portfolio.
The economics make sense from a criminal perspective, albeit a completely illegal one. Gold prices have been riding high since the pandemic started, with reports showing a kilogram hitting over $60,000 by 2023. Meanwhile, cocaine prices took a nosedive—dropping as much as 73 percent during the pandemic. When your illegal drug money isn't worth what it used to be, apparently precious metals start looking pretty attractive.
Colombia has seen some spectacular gold-related scandals, including the CIJ Gutiérrez affair in 2019 and the Goldex scandal from 2015. Financial crime analysts report these cases involved billions of dollars allegedly laundered through gold trading operations—proving that when it comes to creative accounting, some people really go for the gold.
Justice Department's Golden Response
The feds are throwing the book at the Hernandez family under both money laundering and smuggling statutes—basically a legal one-two punch that reflects how seriously they're taking transnational financial crimes these days. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller is handling the prosecution, with the case logged as 25-cr-20236 in the Southern District of Florida's court system.
This is all part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force's ongoing efforts to identify and dismantle what they diplomatically call "high-level criminal organizations." The OCDETF approach emphasizes cooperation between agencies and intelligence-driven investigations—essentially, they're trying to be smarter than the criminals, which is apparently necessary given how creative these schemes have become.
What's particularly interesting is how federal authorities have been playing both carrot and stick in the precious metals sector. They've offered cooperation agreements to refineries willing to clean up their acts and strengthen anti-money laundering programs, while simultaneously coming down hard on those who facilitate illicit operations. It's like offering both a lifeline and a noose—your choice which one you grab.
The Hernandez family, of course, remains innocent until proven guilty in court—that's how our legal system works, even when the allegations involve elaborate international smuggling schemes. But if convicted, they're looking at potentially significant federal prison sentences under money laundering and conspiracy statutes. Not exactly the kind of family legacy most people hope to leave behind.
The case serves as yet another reminder that South Florida continues to be ground zero in the federal government's battle against international financial crimes. Who knew that the Sunshine State's appeal extended to precious metals smugglers? Apparently, warm weather and international shipping ports make for an attractive combination—just not the kind that leads to happy endings in federal court.
