Man guilty of hiding money in plane site

A Chula Vista airplane broker has pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in which he hid the origin of cash from illegal drug sales through the purchase of 35 airplanes.

Victor Contreras-Amezquita, 47, will be sentenced June 5 by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

Amezquita pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money by avoiding transaction reporting requirements, and conspiracy to engage in laundering more than $10,000 without proper documents. He has been detained in the Metropolitan Correctional Center without bail.

Contreras-Amezquita was the owner and manager of Aeropartes Baja and Vekve Corporation located in Chula Vista. The U.S. Attorney said he was involved in the purchase of 35 airplanes and airplane parts for exportation to Mexico by structuring unlawful proceeds into 46 business and personal bank accounts.

He admitted his money laundering crew deposited $3.6 million in 525 structured cash deposits that were used to purchase 35 planes. He was aware the cash was “criminally derived from unlawful proceeds,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Contreras-Amezquita was aware that any bank or financial institution which engages in currency transaction more than $10,000 in cash must file a report of that transaction to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Federal agents seized $104,000 in cash in a traffic stop on Nov. 25, 2011, and $249,820 in a second stop on Dec. 19, 2011. The cash was in cardboard boxes.

Contreras-Amezquita used the cash to purchase Cessnas and airplane parts such as heavy duty tires, auxiliary fuel tanks, and landing gear to land on clandestine airfields. Cessnas 206 and 210 are the type of airplanes generally preferred by drug-trafficking organizations operating in Mexico.

Also pleading guilty to conspiracy to launder money was Hector Hernandez, an airplane broker from Torrance who owned a business at the Torrance airport. Hernandez will be sentenced June 5, and he is free on $112,000 bond.
Arrest warrants have been issued for other people allegedly linked to the scheme which include Denisse Absolor-Infante, Nancy Absolor-Infante, and Elizabeth Fregoso-Zamora, according to court records.