FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A case involving local, state, and federal law enforcement uncovered a prostitution operation and after two recent arrests there is a fugitive on the run, the Broward Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday.
Catalina Soto used legitimate financial institutions and businesses to launder more than $100,000 in proceeds from illegal activities at massage parlors and spas in Broward County, according to detectives.
Investigators reported Soto, 49, was working with her 45-year-old boyfriend Yonleno Carmenates and her son Diego Prieto Molina, who investigators identified as a fugitive.
Detectives identified a network of at least six businesses operating in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Hallandale Beach, Margate, and Oakland Park, according to a warrant.
“The cops were staged out front, there were 10 on this side, 10 on that side, the feds were here,” Donnie Riggs, a witness to one of the Fort Lauderdale raids, said. “They went in there, ransacked the place and got all the information they needed.”
Catalina Soto, also known as Catalina Molina Leyton, was arrested on Saturday and remained at the Paul Rein Detention Facility on Thursday afternoon, according to BSO inmate records. A judge ordered her to surrender her passport.
Carmenates was also arrested on Saturday and remained at Joseph V. Conte Facility on Thursday afternoon, according to BSO inmate records. A judge also ordered him to surrender his passport.
Investigators are searching for Prieto Molina who was out of the country when law enforcement executed a search warrant at their home. There is a warrant out for Prieto Molina’s arrest.
Soto and Carmenates were facing charges of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution and money laundering over $100,000, and racketeering.
Records show a Broward judge set their bonds at $250,000 each, but they must disclose a legitimate source of the funds used to acquire the assets required to post bail.
The case started in 2022 after BSO received a tip from the FBI, according to a warrant. Detectives were asking anyone with information about the case to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
Here is the list of businesses mentioned in the warrant:
- Fort Lauderdale: 2464 E. Commercial Blvd., and 5130 N. Federal Highway, Suite 12
- Deerfield Beach: 1001 E. Sample Road, Suite 7W
- Pompano Beach: 134 E. McNab Road
- Hallandale Beach: 405 E. Hallandale Beach
- Margate: 6530 W. Atlantic Boulevard
- Oakland Park: 3075 W. Oakland Park Boulevard