El Paso Lawyer Charged with Laundering $600 Million for Cartel

Did they make him an offer he couldn’t refuse?

El Paso attorney Marco Delgado is accused of laundering more than half-a-billion dollars for the Milenio cartel.

Delgado was arrested on Friday and was in court Monday afternoon as Judge Norbert Garney read Delgado the charge.

A source close to the investigation said Delgado had been under investigation for years.

The source states Delgadowas found to be depositing similar, large amounts ofmoney that had been withdrawn from Mexican banks.

The Texas Bar Association reports Delgado has been practicing law for 16 years. He is a graduate of Texas Tech Law School. Delgado has no disciplinary record with the bar.

According to his firm’s professional website, Delgado & Associates, P.C.’s, specialty is International Business.

The website states the firm has extensive knowledge in the workings of public finance, banking, real estate and structured finance.

The firm hasoffices located in the Upper Valley, Calgary, Canada and Mexico City.

The firm also has correspondent offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.

County records indicate Delgado owns a large home in the Upper Valley along with several other El Paso businesses listed in his name.

ABC7 called a few of those businesses but received messages stating they were not working numbers.

The charge against Delgado comes at the same time large-scale government crackdowns on banks accepting laundered money are beginning.

Several banks including HSBC, Citigroup and Standard Chartered, are all under investigation for allegedly accepting millions of dollars from drug traffickers, terrorists or sanctioned countries, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Delgado’s bond hearing is scheduled for Thursday.