samanthajane13
08-24-2009, 08:02 PM
ST. LOUIS – Sheriff's deputies in suburban St. Louis who pulled over a speeding BMW have stumbled into some international intrigue.
The car they stopped Aug. 6 had in it $53,200, eight prepaid cell phones, multiple IDs and more than six dozen Western Union receipts for cash sent from the U.S. to Romania and Spain.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that driver Constatin Puiu told authorities he worked for an organization that had him buy a prepaid cell phone every two days and receive text messages telling him what names to use and where to pick up cash to be sent overseas.
Officials said Puiu would not say the source of the money. He has been charged with structuring monetary instruments to evade reporting requirements. His lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, declined to comment.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090824/ap_on_re_us/us_mystery_traffic_stop
The car they stopped Aug. 6 had in it $53,200, eight prepaid cell phones, multiple IDs and more than six dozen Western Union receipts for cash sent from the U.S. to Romania and Spain.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that driver Constatin Puiu told authorities he worked for an organization that had him buy a prepaid cell phone every two days and receive text messages telling him what names to use and where to pick up cash to be sent overseas.
Officials said Puiu would not say the source of the money. He has been charged with structuring monetary instruments to evade reporting requirements. His lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, declined to comment.
___
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090824/ap_on_re_us/us_mystery_traffic_stop