(RepublicanView.org) – The US has issued sanctions on Mexican companies allegedly connnected to drug cartel timeshare fraud. Three Mexican accountants and four real estate firms were hit with the sanctions, while the FBI warned banks to pay attention and report any timeshare fraud schemes that it believes are carried out by the ruthless Jalisco New Generation cartel. The federal agency reports that Americans lost almost $40 million to the schemes in 2022.
According to the Treasury Department, the cartels operate call centers in Mexico, where scammers impersonate timeshare brokers, attorneys, and sales representatives and dupe Americans into investing in fake real estate transactions. The Department also warned that victims are often targeted a second time by fraudsters pretending to be lawyers or law enforcement authorities south of the border. “Complicit accountants and other professionals” launder funds that Americans wire to Mexico before most of the money eventually ends up in the hands of cartel bosses, a Treasury press release stated.
Mexican attorney and businessman Omar Aguirre Barragan is reported to have introduced the schemes over 10 years ago and worked with organized crime networks to turn them into lucrative rackets. The Treasury Department said the transnational networks later cut Barragan out of the deals.
Washington furthermore issued separate sanctions last year to tackle the problem, targeting 50 individuals and companies. The latest sanctions will apply to the Griselda Margarita Arredondo Pinzon, Xeyda Del Refugio Foubert Cadena, and Emiliano Sanchez Martinez, all of whom are accountants.
In April, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen released a statement saying the cartels use “extreme violence” to control the timeshare fraud network, which targets elderly US citizens, who lose their life savings to the scams.
One of the most common schemes involves fraudsters contacting Americans who own timeshares in Mexico and offering to buy them at inflated prices. They then demand cash upfront to cover costs. Reports indicate that the fraudsters who initiate contact often do so against their will.
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