A descendant of the Cartier jewellery dynasty has been sentenced to eight years in a United States federal prison after admitting to running an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange that prosecutors say laundered more than $470m linked to drug trafficking.
Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, 58, a French resident who also performs as a singer under the name “Max Cartier,” pleaded guilty in October to operating an illegal money-transmitting business and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.
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Prosecutors said Cartier used a network of shell companies posing as legitimate tech firms to move criminal funds, disguising the proceeds as payments for software services before routing them to Colombia. The scheme, which authorities called the “Cartier Cell,” involved falsified documents and structured transactions designed to evade bank detection. He was also ordered to forfeit more than $2.3m and associated accounts tied to the operation.
