Back to Squawk list
  • 31

Four American Airlines Flight Attendants Arrested at Miami International Airport for Money Laundering

Enviado há
 
Four American Airlines flight attendants were arrested at the Miami International Airport and charged with money laundering after bringing large amounts of cash into the country, police said. (www.cnn.com) Mais...

Sort type: [Top] [Newest]


bizprop
Roy Troughton 9
All carrying a large sum of cash under $10,000 each on the same flight. When asked how much he was carrying one of the FA’s lied. Red flag right there! Sounds like a coordinated effort to launder money thinking they would avoid the scrutiny of customs because they are FA’s. They have a lot of explaining to do.
bizprop
Roy Troughton 4
If they can’t prove the money is legit then they are in big trouble.
tjd1969
Tim Duggan 2
Exactly. These F/As knew that under $10,000 is the limit. This is pre-planned.
mutrock
Mark Kortum 6
More government overreach. Why should we not be able to do with our money or anyone's money (with their permission) what we want? If the money was illegally gotten, that is another story, but no where in the reporting on this has anyone indicated this was drug money or some other illegal source.
Peterberner
Peter Berner 6
I dont get it. Since the limit is $10,000 per person or family, and no e of them was carrying over that amount, what crime did they commit? The custom declaration form clearly asks “are you carrying more than $10,000”

CHBHA
CB HARDY 5
Like getting stopped for a broken tail light, and having a trunk full of drugs.
mcdevittrw
Bob McDevitt 3
How do they know how much money you are carrying?
Armchaircouch
Armchaircouch 2
They knew because they asked, and were lied to: "One Customs and Border Patrol Agent was checking Carlos Alberto Munoz-Moyano, who had arrived on an incoming flight from Chile. The agent asked him how much money he was carrying, and Munoz-Moyano said he had $100, the police report said.
He later changed his statement and said he had $9,000, according to the police report."

Also, "The police report has redacted what the flight attendants admitted to when they were interviewed by a Homeland Security Agent."
paultrubits
paul trubits 3
Sounds like Customs was tipped off.
jimluntz
JAMES LUNTZ 2
Any savvy traveler who has used MIA is aware of the horrible security that has been endangering the Country for years now. Many Airline staff members have been involved for a long timme. A BIG tip to staff will get you Special service, as in this case you can easily buy the services of crew members. The BIG problem is that security if badly compromised, the Feds must be involved at some level as they could stop it and don't, periodic news making busts make it seem safe but it is not. I avoid using the airport, period.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 2
Kinda brings back memories of the old days of Eastern Airlines at Miami (except $ instead of coke).
joelwiley
joel wiley 6
$ is nothing to sneeze at.
zgmojo
Rich Connor 1
I see what you did there
Armchaircouch
Armchaircouch 2
I wonder why they were all carrying many thousands of dollars, I doubt it's a coincidence. Mysterious indeed.
jmilazzo
joe milazzo 5
I’m confused......according to US customs declaration form 6059B you only need to report money in excess of $10,000. Seems to me like government overreach or they’re not telling us everything !
scott8733
scott8733 8
Indeed, allowance is USD $10,000.....however when the flight attendant misses 2 zeros- the ears and eyebrows go up.
Freakyrat
Calen Chrzan 3
Also we do not know if each of them used a Customs Declaration Form or the Automated Kiosks.
Freakyrat
Calen Chrzan 4
If US Customs considers the 4 FA's to be travelling as a group rather than as individuals then the limit is under $10,000 per group.
jmilazzo
joe milazzo 8
Unless they all live under the same roof and are considered family they each have to fill out their own form therefore they are considered individuals.
Freakyrat
Calen Chrzan 2
Yes something is missing from the story.
Armchaircouch
Armchaircouch 2
"One Customs and Border Patrol Agent was checking Carlos Alberto Munoz-Moyano, who had arrived on an incoming flight from Chile. The agent asked him how much money he was carrying, and Munoz-Moyano said he had $100, the police report said.
He later changed his statement and said he had $9,000, according to the police report."

Lie to a border agent, get investigated. Pretty simple...no?
tasmedic
tasmedic 2
Carrying money is not laundering it.

There must be some other probable cause, some intelligence the Police aren't letting out of the bag.
WhiteKnight77
WhiteKnight77 1
What were they going to use that much money for? Who did they get such money from in Chile?
tasmedic
tasmedic 2
It's a good question, but I'm not sure, from a legal perspective, that the flight crew have to answer it. My understanding of the Law, is that anyone can bring up to $10,000 into the us without declaring it or giving a reason. Hence, I'm pretty sure the Police must have had probable cause before they made the arrests, otherwise their case would founder. Maybe there is a stool pigeon in the flight crew. That's my theory. That would be the best evidence the Police could hope for, and the sort of thing that would make them confident enough to go public at the outset, as they have done.
watkinssusan
this is a sad scenario for American airlines, and the thousands who work for them who are honest and above board..it also sounds like some old tv show plots where the flight attendants smuggle drugs back and forth and manage to get through customs as crew members..!international flight attendants are trained in what is acceptable and what is not, as well as customs and tsa procedures,as are ground personnel who work the international flights..these people knew full well what they were doing..my question would be,how long have these people been employed as flight attendants,and was their intent from the beginning to do the acts they are accused of..American airlines used to be very strict in their hiring procedures for that position,domestic and international,with background checks etcetera..that was the "old" aa however...
tjd1969
Tim Duggan 2
Very well written, Mary Susan. As far as I know (not from AA, retired from UA as a pilot), Miami is a somewhat senior base for AA. These four F/As are in a heap of trouble.
jimluntz
JAMES LUNTZ 1
They need to go to jail, most comments miss the fact that the same crooked behavior could be used for terrorist purposes.
Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Lets see now:
Carlos Alberto Munoz-Moyano
Miaria Delpilar Roman-Strick
Maria Isabel Wilson-Ossandon
Maria Beatriz Pasten-Cuzmar
By my count that
is 16 names so $40K divided by 16 = $2,500 each...so whats the problem?
sgbelverta
sharon bias 1
Lots of American's South American flights leave from Miami, not Dallas. Wonder where their flight originated from, and if they regularly flew together. I'd guess they probably got a tip. Lots of things we'll probably never know about this case.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
More details from Miami Herald which could be the original source:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article236533813.html
bobyjo1
Robert Johnston 1
AA uses foreign national f/a's for "from/to" flights as part of their contract with South American countries. Since this flight originated in Chile, my guess is these f/a's were not our USA/AA f/a's.
tjd1969
Tim Duggan -6
I hate to bring politics in here, but the alleged "wall" (never to be built) is patently useless, as demonstrated by this story.
bobfiegel
bobfiegel 10
That depends on the purpose of the wall, doesn't it?
crk112
crk112 1
You clearly don’t actually understand the purpose of the wall.
n9341c
n9341c 0
Has absolutely NOTHING to do with the wall or politics you IDIOT.
pschmid48
Peter Schmid -2
Unless there is a lot more to this story, this appears to be a Witch hunt!
joelwiley
joel wiley 3
There seems to be.

"The arrest report didn’t say Pasten-Cuzmar carried any cash. It did say the other three cast Pasten-Cuzmar as the one who “directed them to transport U.S. currency into the United States and deliver it to a known person.”

That sounds a bit like they were acting as a group conspiring to evade federal law. No religious affiliation was reported so we don't know if any were Wiccans.

Entrar

Não tem uma conta? Registre-se agora (gratuito) para funcionalidades personalizáveis, alertas de vôo e mais!
Você sabia que o rastreamento de voos da FlightAware é patrocinado por anúncios?
Você pode nos ajudar a manter o FlightAware gratuito, permitindo anúncios de FlightAware.com. Trabalhamos muito para manter nossa publicidade relevante e discreta para criar uma ótima experiência. É rápido e fácil permitir anúncios no FlightAware ou, caso prefira, considere nossas contas premium.
Ignorar