UM professor Bruce Bagley to face money-laundering charges in New York, denies crime

Bruce Bagley is accustomed to lecturing as a Latin American crime expert at the University of Miami.

On Thursday, the professor found himself standing in a Miami federal courtroom as he identified himself as the “Bruce Bagley” who has been charged in an international money-laundering case.

Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra asked Bagley his age and how far he went in school. Bagley said he is 73 and earned a Ph.D.

Then, in a procedural move, the professor told the judge that he was waiving his right to a “removal” hearing and agreeing to be transferred to New York federal court, where he faces a money-laundering conspiracy indictment filed this week. His arraignment is pending.

After his court appearance, Bagley declined to answer questions from a couple of reporters. His defense attorney, Daniel Forman, said: “I don’t want him to make any statements.” But Forman added: “We’re confident at the end of the day he ‘s going to be exonerated.”

On Monday, Bagley was charged with having an illicit side job — laundering at least $3 million in “embezzled” Venezuelan money through his own U.S. bank accounts and keeping about $300,000 as a fee for himself.

An FBI investigation culminated when South Florida agents arrested Bagley, shocking the University of Miami and fellow academics across Latin America.

After his arrest, Bagley told the Miami Herald’s news partner, CBS4, that he did nothing wrong. “Not guilty — that’s how I’m feeling,” Bagley told a reporter. “They’ve got it all wrong.”

Federal prosecutors in New York City announced a grand jury had indicted him on charges of money laundering and conspiracy after he “opened bank accounts for the express purpose of laundering money for corrupt foreign nationals.”

Bagley is a longtime UM international relations professor who wrote the book “Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Violence in the Americas Today.” The university said it learned of the indictment on Monday afternoon.

“In light of this development, Professor Bagley is on administrative leave,” the school said in a statement. “As this is a personal matter in an ongoing investigation, the University has no further comment at this time.”

Over the years, he became a high-profile figure among the university’s cadre of experts. Bagley had appeared in newspapers such as the Miami Herald, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 2:49 PM.