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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
A former Lehman Brothers broker pleaded guilty to laundering $11 million in drug money for the former governor of a Mexican state, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said Thursday.
Consuelo Marquez, a former investment representative who worked at the brokerage from 1995 to 2000, admitted she managed accounts for Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid. Villanueva Madrid was the former governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, where the resort city of Cancun is located.
When Villanueva Madrid's governor's term expired, the Mexican government began investigating proceeds he received from a Mexican cocaine cartel.
"The message this conviction sends to the financial community is clear: Those who adopt a 'don't ask-don't tell' approach toward the money they manage do so at their own peril," David Kelley, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Marquez was charged with helping Villanueva Madrid open brokerage accounts at Lehman and liquidating the proceeds through wire transfers totaling more than $11 million, the statement said.
Sentencing has not been scheduled yet, and Marquez faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of $22 million. She also faces sentencing on 16 other counts of bank and wire fraud that she pled guilty to last year.
In court, Marquez admitted she knew about the Mexican government's investigation into Villanueva Madrid's illegal activities but that she avoided looking into the matter or informing her superiors so she could continue receiving commission income.
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