Former money laundering informant, jailed in Colombia 3 years, suing US gov't for abandonment
Source: Associated Press
Former money laundering informant, jailed in Colombia 3 years, suing US gov't for abandonment
By Frederic J. Frommer, The Associated Press October 21, 2013 5:06 AM
WASHINGTON - A former confidential informant working for the United States in Colombia claims in a lawsuit that the U.S. government abandoned her when she got into legal trouble for her undercover operations, and she wound up spending three years in a Colombian jail.
Astrid Hurtado is seeking $15 million in damages.
Hurtado, 52, first worked as an informant for the U.S. tax agency in 1997-1998, then for the "El Dorado Task Force," a premier U.S. government unit established by the then-U.S. Customs Service to investigate money laundering.
Her job was to impersonate a money launderer in Colombia and provide information to the U.S. In return, she received a percentage of money seized by the United States.
Hurtado told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that she was paid around $120,000 for her work over a roughly 18-month period from 1998 to 2000.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Former+money+laundering+informant+jailed+Colombia+years+suing+govt/9060838/story.html
