Carlos Djemal Nehmad, a former partner and part owner at Mexico's Accendo Banco SA Institución de Banca Múltiple, was sentenced to six years and three months in jail for illegally acquiring $21 million in tax refunds from the Mexican government, Reuters reported.
Djemal pleaded guilty to charges filed in New York for exporting mobile phones to the U.S. from Mexico and back, using front companies and claiming tax refunds from Mexico as a result.
Three other defendants also were sentenced for the tax fraud scheme, which took place from 2011 to 2016.
Under a plea bargain reached in September 2017, Djemal cannot appeal the verdict. The businessman struck a deal with prosecutors for him to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud in exchange for dropping charges of money laundering. He also agreed to a money judgment of $21 million owed to the plaintiffs of the case.
Accendo Banco's activities had been suspended since the end of 2016 after Djemal's arrest. The bank had been cleared earlier of wrongdoing in the case and said it was pushed ahead with its merger with Deutsche Bank México SA Institución de Banca Múltiple.
