Operation Casablanca — an international money laundering sting operation run by U.S. law enforcement agents — has resulted in what may be the first money laundering conviction of a South Florida banker.
Esperanza de Saad, 56, who ran the Miami office of Banco Industrial de Venezuela as executive vice president and general manager, was found guilty Dec. 20 of laundering $4 million in tainted money. De Saad, who was tried in Los Angeles, is a member of a politically connected family in Venezuela and the sister of the country’s former finance minister.
