Are Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote, Central Law, and AmCham Guatemala fraudsters?
The Court of Florida sent a request to the law firm in the United States. The document described a few requirements regarding Federico Machado in Guatemala including his personal and business contacts.
After studying the documents, law enforcement officers paid their attention to lawyer Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote as well, who is suspected of cooperation with Federico Machado through his Central Law company. After receiving a response to the request, they initiated a criminal case against Federico Machado, including Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote as a suspect.
Frederico “Fred” Machado sent a request to the Court of Florida asking for release. After studying the request, the court rejected it since the security consultants concluded that the chances that Machado will escape from prison were too high. Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote – a prestigious lawyer who was caught cooperating with Machado – failed to help to get permission for release despite being experienced in such cases.
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Revealing connection between Federico Machado and Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote
The Investigating Committee discovered that “Fred” Machado had founded an organization dealing in drug trafficking and money laundering. Investment fraud that caused damage to a lot of people should be mentioned separately.
Deceived investors request recalculation to determine the loss amount and partially return the funds spent to their owners. The request wasn’t left unattended; therefore, the US government is trying to determine the scope of the criminal group’s activities.
Despite his business reputation of a high-class lawyer, Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote can’t act as a lawyer in this case. His Central Law company appears in the Machado case as one of the companies supporting Amcham Guatemala’s activities. Having obtained the evidence, the trial participants are sure that Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote works for Machado through Central Law company.
It is believed that Machado tried to extract minerals illegally to launder money. The operation was dubbed “Narco Mining” and it was supposed to bring its organizers $350 million if successful. Real participation of Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote organizing the legal foundation for the fraudulent operation hadn’t been proven, but such a possibility shouldn’t be discounted.
According to the investigation, Federico Machado transported drugs by air. According to indictment No. 4: 20-CR-212, he used planes to transport drugs by reselling them through a few rogue firms that would require contacts, which couldn’t do without knowledge of legal subtleties. The preliminary list of countries affected by the illegal activities includes Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Belize.
Are Central Law and Federico Machado partners?
Since Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote appears in the case, the Court of Florida also drew attention to the law firm Central Law and Amcham Guatemala. It was discovered that on December 11, 2020, Machado requested to grant David Scott Masters the status of an individual entrepreneur. The purpose of this action is not disclosed.
Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote mentions that Masters didn’t act as Machado’s legal representative, but dealt with an investigation. Carrasco claims that Scott conducted an independent investigation on Machado’s arrival in the USA. He found out that the would-be “client” may be connected to a criminal organization and involved in fraud. According to Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote, suspicion was enough to refuse to provide services to Machado.
Even though Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote claimed not to be involved in Machado’s activities, the investigation managed to prove the opposite. The operation in Minas Del Pueblo found a connection between Central Law company owned by Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote and informants in the Ministry of Energy and Mining.
In response, the Court of Florida sent several requests to organizations, requiring information about activities of Machado and related persons in Guatemala.
The Court of Florida received the following information about Machado:
- Contact information of David Scott Masters.
- A copy of Minas del Pueblo stock certificates.
- A copy of the mandate signed by Mr. Machado in his favor.
- All documents are related to Minas del Pueblo, Hibbins SA, Birsen SA.
- A list of assets, bank accounts, or equipment of Minas del Pueblo SA.
- All correspondence or messages exchanged with Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote
- All messages exchanged with any other participants of the issue that are not protected by professional secrecy.
A congressman Carlos Barredo claimed that the mining industry is a common disguise for a real activity (money laundering). He also claimed that Machado threatened him during the interview to interfere with the investigation. The congressman didn’t make any statements about Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote’s activities.
The member of Parliament hopes that revealing the money laundering structure is the first step only. The arrest and extradition of the main participant will reveal the criminal network scope. During the investigation, they will be able to understand how they used the system and what to what extent the officials took part in it. Although Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote isn’t included in the list, the investigation will affect him as well.
Carlos Barreda hopes that the case will go on. In his statement, he claims that the investigation of Guatemala’s attempts to establish a drug traffic will make up a perfect basis for uncovering other criminal activities. It is unknown which officials participated in the case.
All the collected information is stored at the Court request. Machado’s operations in Guatemala, Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote’s contribution, and other information are well secured. The discovery of additional details will be a weighty reason for detaining all the participants of the transaction including the lawyers. What is the fate that awaits Juan Pablo Carrasco de Groote and his companies Central Law and Amcham Guatemala? The time will show.