Elias LLC partner and former federal prosecutor Richard Elias appears in the new docuseries “Dirty Money” premiering January 26, 2018 on Netflix. Elias and client Victor Avila provide commentary throughout one of the six episodes–“Cartel Bank”–which explores the history and consequences of HSBC’s widespread money laundering on behalf of Mexican drug cartels.
Produced by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”), the documentary tells the story of HSBC’s illegal conduct and complicity with the drug cartels through interviews with various journalists, whistleblowers, prosecutors, and politicians.
While HSBC escaped criminal prosecution by paying a $1.9 Billion fine to the U.S. government, Elias LLC is currently pursuing civil remedies against HSBC under the Anti-Terrorism Act on behalf of innocent American victims of drug cartel terrorism facilitated by HSBC’s conduct.
Such victims include Victor Avila, a former ICE agent seriously wounded in the line of duty by Mexican cartel members; Avila’s partner, ICE agent Jaime Zapata, who was murdered in the same attack; Lesley Redelfs, a U.S. consulate worker murdered in Juarez; Rafael Morales, Jr., who was kidnapped from his own wedding, tortured, and murdered; and Felix Batista, an anti-kidnapping expert targeted and murdered by cartel members.
Elias LLC’s lawsuit against HSBC is currently pending in federal court in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.
View the Trailer for “Dirty Money”