CEO who owned rights to Pablo Escobar’s name arrested for fraud, money laundering
The CEO of a company that owned the rights to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar’s name and likeness was arrested and extradited to L.A. to face fraud and money laundering charges.
Olaf Kyros Gustafsson, 31, also known as “El Silencio,” is a Swedish national who owned Escobar Inc., a corporation registered in Puerto Rico that held successor-in-interest rights to the persona and legacy of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian narcoterrorist and head of the Medellín Cartel who died in 1993.
The company used Escobar’s persona to market and sell a variety of products to the public including victims across Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
From July 2019 to November 2023, Gustafsson found existing products in the marketplace and used Escobar’s persona to advertise similar products at a much lower price than the competition, court documents said.
Some of the items he allegedly sold included an Escobar Flamethrower, an Escobar Fold Phone, an Escobar Gold 11 Pro Phone, and Escobar Cash (marketed as a “physical cryptocurrency”).
Gustafsson would receive payments for these items through PayPal, Stripe, Coinbase and other online payment platforms. However, despite receiving the money, Gustafsson reportedly did not send any merchandise to customers because the products did not exist, prosecutors said.
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Pablo Escobar Gaviria, leader of the Medallin Cartel in Bogota, Colombia. (Photo by Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) -
Le trafiquant de drogue Pablo Escobar, patron du cartel de Medellin, et sa femme Maria Victoria en 1983, en Colombie. (Photo by Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) -
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA – JANUARY 21, 2023: A mural of Pablo Escobar the notorious Colombian drug lord appearing in a neighborhood named after him on January 21, 2023 in Medellin, Colombia. Barrio Pablo Escobar is located on the eastern slope of Medellin’s valley. Pablo Escobar Gaviria better known as Patron was the most notorious Colombian drug lord who died on 2 December 1993 in Medellin, Colombia. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images) -
Pablo Escobar, at left, in his prime. (AP Photo) -
A poster promoting a magazine style publication about the life of the late Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar hangs on the wall of small food store in the neighborhood Comuna Nororiental 1 in Medellin, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. The magazine, whose publisher is unknown, comes with blank pages with instructions to fill them with small photographs which are bought separately, like baseball cards, at several small stores in this neighborhood. The cards showing images of Escobar, are a mix of real life photos and of actors playing out his life from a local TV series called “Escobar, El Patrón del Mal.” (AP Photo/Luis Benavides) -
FILE – In this undated file photo, the late Pablo Escobar, former boss of the Medellin drug cartel, his wife Maria Henao and their son Juan Pablo, attend a soccer match in Bogota, Colombia. The widow of Pablo Escobar fell madly in love as a preteen with the man who would rise to be a ruthless drug lord, but says in a new book she felt raped when at age 14 he forced her to have an abortion, and over time came to view him as a cruel psychopath. (El Tiempo Photo via AP File) -
** FOR STORY LOS DOS ESCOBAR ** FILE – In this 1983 file photo, Medellin drug cartel boss Pablo Escobar, left, watches a soccer game in Medellin, Colombia. A documentary film that explores drug cartels’ infiltration in Colombian soccer uses Pablo Escobar and Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar as references. (AP Photo, File)
To further his scheme, Gustafsson had sent “crudely made samples” of Escobar-branded items to online tech reviewers and social media influencers to try and create demand for the products.
One of the items he allegedly sent to reviewers was a Samsung Galaxy Fold phone wrapped in gold foil and disguised as Escobar Inc. phones, court documents said.
Instead of sending the merchandise to customers, Gustafsson allegedly mailed them a “Certificate of Ownership,” a book or other company promotional materials just to have an official mailing record.
When a customer didn’t receive the item and tried to get a refund, he would allegedly refer to the mailing receipt as proof that the item had been shipped before denying all refund requests.
He also allegedly opened bank accounts, to be used as funnel accounts, into which he deposited and withdrew money earned from his schemes. The accounts were located in the United States, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates.
Gustafsson was arrested in Spain in December 2023. He was extradited to the U.S. and arrived in Los Angeles on March 28, 2025.
He was charged with:
- 41 counts of money laundering
- 35 counts of international money laundering
- 25 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity
- 9 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud
- 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud
- 1 count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering
On Friday, he was arraigned on a 115-count federal indictment in a U.S. District Court in downtown L.A. where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. A trial date is set for May 20. He remains in federal custody.