On May 9, 2025, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida sentenced Paul Morani to 42 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, the sole count in the Superseding Information. Morani was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine. Federal prosecutors had additionally charged Morani with one count of money laundering conspiracy and multiple counts of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds – charges that were dismissed as part of a plea agreement filed in February 2025.
As part of his guilty plea, Morani admitted that, between 2013 and 2024, he established seven shell companies in the South Florida and elsewhere that were actually sham fronts operating without any legitimate business activity. Morani admitted that he or his co-conspirators also opened multiple bank accounts associated with the sham companies that received large quantities of U.S. dollars from Argentina via wire transfer – transfers that he and his co-conspirators justified by creating false invoices. Morani admitted that, by engaging in these actions, he operated an unlicensed money transfer business in the Southern District of Florida. According to Morani, he was made aware of Florida’s licensing requirement in March of 2022 but continued to operate the illegal business until 2024.
According to court documents, Morani’s illegal operation was discovered in February 2019 by Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) officers conducting a fentanyl trafficking investigation. During the investigation, an unnamed suspect allegedly attempted to purchase a large quantity of cocaine by wiring funds from a South Florida company called Compass Forwarding, Inc.. Investigators determined that Compass Forwarding was one of seven shell companies owned by Morani.
In 2024, federal prosecutors also charged Morani’s co-defendant Maria Delannoy with conspiracy to commit money laundering and engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds. The case against Delannoy continues.
Judgment | Docket – Minute Entry | Plea Agreement | Factual Proffer| Superseding Information | Amended Complaint