LTC 327-2010 Detective Ricardo Arias m MIAM
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC #1327 -2010 ! LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission t-, iv
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manage r - o ,
DATE: December 3, 2010 `-' '
SUBJECT: Detective Ricardo Arias — MDCAC ovember 2010 Officer of the Month
-r ∎
This Letter to the City Commission is to announce that Detective Ricardo Arias was seRtedkyy
the Miami Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police (MDCACP) as their November 2010
Officer of the Month.
Detective Ricardo Arias was selected for this prestigious award based on his extraordinary efforts
with the United States Secret Service's Miami Electron Crimes Task Force (MECTF). Detective
Arias was also awarded the Secret Service's "International Case of the Year" for his work
involving an arrest and follow up investigation that occurred on Miami Beach on June 1, 2010. A
subject identified as Alexsei Satalov, an Estonia national, was a passenger in a 2000 silver BMW
which was stopped in the 400 block of Alton Road for a traffic violation by a Patrol officer. The
Patrol investigation revealed $12,420.00 in two separate open mailing envelopes. Detective
Arias was called in to assist in the investigation and interview of Satalov concerning the discovery
of the U.S. currency.
During the interview, Detective Arias was able to elicit a confession from Satalov who stated that
the currency belonged to an organized crime group. He was going to deposit the currency into a
Wells Fargo account for a company in San Francisco. He also confessed to being in possession
of gift cards that were to be re- encoded with stolen checking account information. Satalov's role
in the organization was that of a "cashier ". He was responsible for continuously re- encoding
cards with checking account information stolen from ATM machines and emptying the checking
accounts. Satalov then would deposit the cash into a specific bank account through a counter
deposit. The currency would then be wired out of the country.
Detective Arias contacted MECTF for assistance with the investigation. MECTF contacted their
counterparts in London and provided them the details of Detective Arias' investigation. Detective
Arias and the MECTF coordinated the arrests of 4 British citizens and the seizure of their property
and electronic media. These arrests constituted the entire dismantling of a criminal group
operating outside the United States targeting our financial infrastructure.
Further investigation into the San Francisco bank account is currently ongoing and currently
shows that over $1,500,000 has flowed through the account for the explicit purpose of money +,
laundering for this criminal organization. The $12,420 initially seized in the traffic stop is currently
being forfeited to the City of Miami Beach through the Civil Forfeiture process.
Detective Arias is to be commended for his incredible dedication, perseverance, and tenacity by
thoroughly seeing the case through to fruition no matter where it led. It should be noted he was
also recognized at the November 17 City Commission meeting for being the MBPD's October
2010 Officer of the Month. Please join me in congratulating him on this tremendous
accomplishment.
JMG:CN:tr