Johanna Patricia Ceballos Bueno
Johanna Patricia Ceballos Bueno was designated by U.S. Treasury in July 2013 in the action against the Guberek money-laundering network. Treasury described her as the secretary of Isaac Perez Guberek Ravinovicz and Henry Guberek Grimberg who managed the network’s day-to-day operations from their Bogota offices. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also named her in a drug-money-laundering conspiracy indictment. These are attributed agency statements and a charge, not a reported conviction.[1][2][3]
Role in the network
Treasury explicitly named Ceballos Bueno as a business associate managing daily operations from the Bogota offices. It separately described the leaders’ textile firms, Panama shell-company accounts and trafficking clients, including Joumaa. Its published action does not specify which transfers Ceballos Bueno personally executed, approved or knew about. Her documented role should not be expanded to every transaction attributed to the network.[1]
Company links in the designation list
OFAC’s July 2013 entry linked Ceballos Bueno to C.I. del Istmo S.A.S., G&G Internacional S.A.S., Induitex Ltda., SBT S.A. and Promesas del Futbol Colombiano S.A. The list provides concrete company associations in addition to Treasury’s description of her administrative role. It does not state that she owned every company, controlled every account, or approved every transaction processed through the network.[4]
Other named relationships
The designation covered 31 persons and entities, while a separate federal indictment named four defendants including Ceballos Bueno. Treasury identified Joumaa and Linares Castillo as network clients; the broad hundreds-of-millions characterization belongs to the network and is not an amount personally attributed to the secretary.[1]
Legal record and attribution
Treasury designated Ceballos Bueno under the Kingpin Act in its July 2013 action against the Guberek network. DOJ separately announced that she was one of four defendants charged with conspiracy to launder proceeds of controlled-substance offenses. DOJ cautioned that the indictment was an accusation and defendants were presumed innocent. The cited sources do not provide a later disposition.[2]
The separate criminal accusation
DEA named Ceballos-Bueno, Isaac Perez Guberek Ravinovicz, Henry Guberek Grimberg and Dilleman Hernando Solorzano-Lozano as the four defendants. Its announcement described conspiracy to launder proceeds of the manufacture, importation, sale and distribution of controlled substances. The alleged offense concerned the origin and handling of funds; the announcement did not report a conviction for financing Hezbollah.[2]
The larger commercial mechanism
Treasury described textile-company accounts in Colombia and shell-company accounts in Panama as channels for returning narcotics proceeds to Colombia. Its transit list included Spain, Hong Kong, the United States, Mexico, China, Israel, the Cayman Islands and Venezuela. These locations describe the alleged network’s reach. They do not establish that Ceballos Bueno traveled to each place or personally administered every account.[1]
Related network and scope
Treasury named Joumaa as a client of the wider Guberek network and said his global narcotics enterprise had benefited Hezbollah. The available releases neither call Ceballos Bueno a Hezbollah member nor identify an individual payment to it. Her profile connects a specific named operational role to a network, with the Joumaa client and Hezbollah benefit claims attributed at their respective levels.[1][3]
Later actions and personal scope
OFAC later removed some people and entities in the broader network, including Arieh Guberek Grimberg in April 2015, Felipe in September 2016 and Madrid associate Calle Quiros in June 2017. Those removals do not supply a criminal disposition or removal for Ceballos Bueno. Her alleged daily-management role and her charge must be kept separate from the legal history of relatives, clients and overseas associates.[5][6][7]
Financial mechanism and individual scope
Noam Binstok, Orna Mizrahi and Esteban Klor’s May 2026 INSS analysis describes trade, exchange businesses and hawala offsets as complementary means of financial settlement. It provides context for the distinction between a daily administrative role and the network’s separate collection, account and payment functions. The model does not identify an additional personal transfer, establish knowledge of a specific payment’s criminal source, or quantify a receipt by Hezbollah.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Treasury, Guberek network designation, 9 July 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Colombian Nationals Charged In International Drug Money Laundering Conspiracy
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Treasury, Spanish cell designation, 29 October 2013
- ↑ OFAC,Kingpin Act Designations,9July2013
- ↑ OFAC, Counter Terrorism Designations; Counter Narcotics Designations Removals, 28 April 2015
- ↑ OFAC, Kingpin Act Designations; Counter Narcotics Designations Removals, 29 September 2016
- ↑ OFAC, Counter Narcotics Designations Removals and Updates, 14 June 2017
- ↑ Hezbollah’s Global Financial Network as a Target in the War Against the Organization
Legal and sanctions status as of 12 October 2026.