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Cartels Defrauding American Timeshare Owners in Mexico

U.S. officials and federal investigators warned banks and other financial institutions Tuesday to begin screening transactions for signs of cartel-perpetrated fraud schemes against U.S. owners of timeshare properties in Mexico.

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network joined the Office of Foreign Assets Control and FBI in issuing a 14-page notice that lists 10 transactional indicators of timeshare fraud associated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, also known as CJNG, and other Mexico-based drug-trafficking organizations, which reportedly made hundreds of millions of dollars from such schemes from 2019 to 2023.

“Victims of timeshare fraud schemes in Mexico generally send payments to scammers through wire transfers via U.S. correspondent banks to Mexican shell companies with accounts at Mexican banks or brokerage houses,” FinCEN, the FBI and OFAC advised in the notice. “The recipient accounts in such transactions are often relatively new and were typically opened in the preceding six months.”

After the funds arrive in Mexico , the perpetrators transfer them onward to accounts held by other shell companies that the CJNG and other cartels control “either directly or indirectly” through relatives and associates, or through “complicit accountants” and other third-party professionals.

Concurrent with the notice, OFAC blacklisted three Mexican accountants and four Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud.

Moneylaundering.com may update this coverage as more information becomes available.
Topics : Anti-money laundering , Fraud , International Banking , Know Your Customer
Source: U.S.: FinCEN
Document Date: July 16, 2024