Residential Real Estate Newsroom

Real Estate Attorney Sentenced for Laundering Drug Money

On November 3, 2006, in Seattle, WA, Joel Manalang, a real estate attorney, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $6,000 fine for money laundering.  Manalang, a real estate attorney, operated an escrow business. Court papers allege that during 2003 and 2005, Manalang received large quantities of cash from clients under circumstances indicating to Manalang that the money was derived from drug trafficking.  Manalang received the money in shoe boxes and duffle bags and assisted drug traffickers in the acquisition of real estate.  On August 1, 2006, Manalang pleaded guilty and acknowledged that he knew the funds were derived from criminal activity.  Additionally, he admitted that his actions were intended to conceal the true nature of the funds and from whom they were obtained.  He also admitted to evading currency reporting requirements imposed by law.  Manalang is one of four attorneys in the past year to plead guilty to financial crimes in connection to drug trafficking.  James L. White, an attorney and Municipal Court Judge, was sentenced in December 2005, to 18 months in prison for money laundering.  In a related case, A. Mark Vanderveen, an attorney, was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement for failing to file a currency transaction report as required by Federal law.  Stephen J. Plowman pleaded guilty last month to failing to report cash transactions in excess of $10,000. He will be sentenced in January 2007.