DEA ‘informant’ tries to steal $150,000 given to expose money launderers, feds say

A man accused of laundering millions of dollars for international narcotics rings also tried to steal $150,000 from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, federal prosecutors reported.

Daniel Shaun Zilke, 49, most recently of Mexico City, was sentenced in Los Angeles to 87 months in prison on Nov. 4, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release.

He also was ordered to pay $150,000 to the DEA and pay a $50,000 fine, prosecutors said.

Zilke, also known as “The Englishman,” helped oversee money laundering operations from 2015 to 2020, prosecutors said.

He arranged to pick up millions of dollars from drug dealers across the U.S. and deposit them in various bank accounts, including one purportedly belonging to a charity, prosecutors said.

In 2019, Zilke approached the DEA and offered to help expose the money laundering ring, prosecutors said. The DEA had been investigating Zilke for years at that point, beginning in 2015, officials said.

“After being made a cooperator and agreeing to always be truthful,” the agency gave him $200,000 to be laundered by a partner and returned to the DEA, prosecutors said.

Instead, Zilke returned to his partner two weeks later and took back $150,000, which he did not disclose to the DEA, prosecutors said.

He tried to cover up the theft by repeatedly lying to agents about why it was taking so long to launder the money, prosecutors said.

Two others also accused of participating in the money laundering operation were previously convicted, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 1:35 PM with the headline "DEA ‘informant’ tries to steal $150,000 given to expose money launderers, feds say."