Minnesota bank employee indicted over allegations of laundering $750,000 for CJNG cartel

A federal grand jury in the District of Minnesota returned an indictment charging Christopher A. Bravo Marin, 46, of Minneapolis, a Mexican national, with conspiring to launder at least $750,000 in drug proceeds on behalf of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most prolific and dangerous drug cartels, according to the Justice Department.

Bravo was arrested Aug. 20 by Homeland Security Investigations special agents and subsequently appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge in Minneapolis, the department said.

“The indictment alleges that this defendant abused his position at a financial institution to help the CJNG cartel launder money from its drug sales back to Mexico,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, adding that the division is “relentless in its mission to take the profit out of crime.” U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota said Bravo “strengthened a criminal infrastructure” and pledged continued efforts to dismantle drug trafficking organizations threatening Minnesota residents. Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard of HSI St. Paul emphasized the importance of Homeland Security Task Forces and coordinated law enforcement partnerships in combating transnational criminal activity.

According to the indictment, from at least February 2023 to at least February 2026, Bravo — an employee of a Minnesota-based money transmitting business — conspired with members of a CJNG drug distribution cell in Minnesota to launder drug proceeds and funnel them to cartel leaders in Mexico through his employer. Prosecutors allege Bravo exploited his knowledge of the company’s compliance policies and procedures to evade its anti-money laundering controls and conceal the illicit source of the funds. Cartel members allegedly paid him approximately $40 to $50 for each transfer he laundered.

Bravo allegedly structured the funds across multiple transfers, keeping each one just below $1,000, the money transmitter’s threshold for collecting and verifying a customer’s identification document. He allegedly created fake names of Hispanic origin to serve as senders and directed the money to straw beneficiaries in Mexico whose names were provided by cartel members.

After processing the transfers, Bravo allegedly forged the senders’ signatures on payment confirmation receipts to make the transactions appear legitimate and texted screenshots of the receipts to co-conspirators so the funds could be redeemed in Mexico, the Justice Department said.

Bravo faces one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Any sentence would be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Trial Attorney Javier Urbina of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Kline for the District of Minnesota are prosecuting the case. HSI St. Paul and the Dakota County Drug Task Force investigated it.

The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established under Executive Order 14159.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.