2 Berkeley County men indicted in money laundering conspiracy

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Two men from Berkeley County have been indicted for their roles in a $74 million money laundering conspiracy.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said Thursday that a federal grand jury in Charleston returned a 17-count indictment against 46-year-old Jimmy Soares De Oliveira Carvalho and 51-year-old Jose Rivelino Serafim Da Silva in a case that involved money laundering.

The men are alleged to have created 10 shell companies that claimed to work in the construction industry to facilitate payments from contractors who were engaged in residential and commercial construction to their workers, who often were undocumented and performing work on behalf of the contractors.

Carvalho, Da Silva, and others used the shell companies to operate an unlicensed check-cashing business and unlawfully cashed checks for individuals and companies working in the construction industry for a three to five percent fee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Officials said Carvahlo, Da Silva, and others unlawfully cashed approximately $74 million in checks for clients of the shell companies from January 17 to the date of the indictment.

“For counts one through 12 and 17, Carvalho faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and for counts 13 through 16 Carvalho faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison,” officials said.

He is currently being held until a detention hearing scheduled for Friday morning.

“Da Silva, for count one and counts nine through 12, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and for counts 13 through 16, Da Silva faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison,” officials added.

He is scheduled to have an initial appearance on Friday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Molly H. Cherry.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.