A descendant of the Cartier jewellery dynasty has been sentenced to eight years in a United States federal prison for operating an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange that laundered over 470 million dollars in drug trafficking proceeds.
Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, 58, a French resident and Argentine citizen who performs as singer “Max Cartier,” received the sentence in Manhattan federal court on April 28 after pleading guilty in October to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Prosecutors said Cartier funnelled the illicit funds through sham U.S. shell companies disguised as software and tech firms, including Bullpix Solutions, Softmill LLC and VC Innovated, before routing the money to Colombia.
The firms existed solely to convert drug traffickers’ cryptocurrency into hard currency, using forged contracts and invoices to deceive banks into believing they handled legitimate tech work.
Cartier broke transactions into small amounts to dodge bank scrutiny in a scheme dubbed the “Cartier Cell” by investigators, which dated back to at least 2018.
He once told an undercover FBI agent that a New York City hotel was his second home for meeting crypto clients, lawyers and banks.
In 2021, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized nearly 940,000 dollars from his accounts in an undercover operation.
Cartier later approached the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pennsylvania with fake records to recover part of the funds before authorities built the case against him.
The court ordered forfeiture of 2.36 million dollars—his cut of the proceeds—and several shell company bank accounts.
U.S. Attorney John Clayton said Cartier exploited his knowledge of U.S. and international financial systems to launder drug money and other crime proceeds.
